


Teach Me to be Brave

by Krisbeecream



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Chris Lahiffe is a jerk, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Identity Reveal, Light Angst, New Miraculous Holders, Original Character(s), Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Post-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Reveal Fic, Romance, Slow Burn, adrienette fluff, gabriel redemption, marinette as guardian, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:07:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 58,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24013342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krisbeecream/pseuds/Krisbeecream
Summary: It's been over ten years since Hawk Moth was defeated. Manon Chamack lives a relatively quiet life in Paris with her mother, while her school bully Chris Lahiffe lives off of his older brother's relative fame. One fateful day, however, they are both called upon to take up the Miraculous in defense of Paris, because Ladybug and Chat Noir may be retired, but Hawk Moth is back.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Manon Chamack/Chris Lahiffe
Comments: 26
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

"You're 15, honey. I can leave you home alone."

Manon looked up at her mother as she rushed out the door to get to the TV Station. "Hawk Moth is striking for the second time in a week since being defeated over a decade ago! You're going to leave me alone when a supervillain just came back?!"

"Manon, sweetie, you have to understand. If I don't show up to supervise these emergency broadcasts, they don't go well! I'm the only one still working there that was doing news during the time of Hawk Moth--er, I guess he's the 'first Hawk Moth' now." Manon's lip quivered. She was a big girl now, but she'd only become more attached to her only parent as she had gotten older. She was just as scared for her mother's safety as she was for her own.

"Besides," Nadia glanced at the mirror next to the front door and used her pinky to blend the corner of her lipsticked mouth. "You know I'll be gone an hour, maybe two tops! Ladybug and Chat Noir always make quick work of Akumas!" She made a face of determination at her daughter in an attempt to instill some confidence.

"But nobody saw Ladybug fight the Akuma that appeared the other day! Chris was akumatized, disappeared, then reappeared de-akumatized like an hour later!" Manon was unsurprised that the first Akumatized person in 10 years was stupid Chris Lahiffe. Ever since high school, that kid had become unbearable. 

"Ladybug sightings have been really scarce these last few years, Mom. How do we even know she's still in Paris? Maybe they figured their work here was done when they defeated 'the first Hawk Moth,'" Manon reasoned, putting an average teenage amount of air quotes around that last part. Nadia frowned, finally looking at Manon with her famous Mom Look of Concern. It always let Manon know that she had gotten through the tough, career-woman exterior and into the motherly side of Nadia.

"If you are really this worried about getting hurt, I can try and supervise over the phone with them," soothed Nadia, placing a hand on Manon's back and rubbing gently up and down. Manon shrugged, looking torn, before deciding that she didn't want to carry the guilt of preventing her superstar mother from being there to capture the re-emergence of Paris' most famous supervillain.

"You can go, Mom. I'll just think positive, then I'll stay safe like Ladybug always said." They smiled at each other as Nadia wrapped Manon up in a hug and kissed her cheeks before heading back to the front door, this time actually leaving.

\----------------

Waving as the door swung shut, Manon contemplated her options. She could maybe just hide under her bed until her mom came home, signaling the end of the akuma attack. However, then she wouldn't be able to watch the live broadcast her mother was putting on and might miss some Ladybug news. She reasoned she should stay in the living room with the TV and just stay away from windows for the time being.

Wrapping a blanked over her shoulders, Manon went to the kitchen to get a snack and hunkered down on the couch for what might be a long night. The broadcast began with a briefing by a newscaster before cutting to a live anchor downtown trying to get close to the action without endangering herself. Manon remembered a time when her mother was always the one monster chasing, a time when Manon was too young to really realize the danger her own mother was in during every Akuma attack. She was thankful that her mother was now in a more senior role, not having to cover things on-the-scene anymore. Her morning talk show was a hit across Paris, and she had every night off unless there was breaking news for her to supervise coverage of. All in all, it had given Manon the time to bond more with her single mom than she would have been able to back in Nadia's days as a roving reporter.

Manon was silently thankful for that for a moment, bowing her head to think positive thoughts in the TV studio's direction, hoping it would magically grant them extra luck and safety. As she opened her eyes, she was staring down at the coffee table, and something immediately drew her eye.

A small black jewelry box embossed with an intricate red design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I've never posted anything before, so please help me out by letting me know any ideas for how I could maybe tag this better, and also anything else you feel like commenting. All criticisms welcome, this is just an idea I've been kicking around that I could maybe write more of if there's an interest in it and also maybe even if no one cares ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> This story features Manon Chamack and Chris Lahiffe aged up to 15, and the rest of the older miraculous crew are in their mid to late 20s. Also: Guardian Ladybug, Adrienette marriage, new Hawk Moth, and some other ideas that I have/will come up with. Lemme know what you think!


	2. Diving In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I decided to add the second chapter that I wrote right away, since I already had it done and wanted to know what people thought of it. This is all I have written so far and I'm still organizing my thoughts, but as always any feedback is welcome!

The blinding pink light caused Manon to shield her eyes with her elbow as she attempted to pry open the mysterious box. "How did this get here?" crossed her mind, but only after she had already grabbed it and begun inspecting it. She had always been the type to question things as an afterthought, preferring to simply roll with the punches of the strange journey called life.

The box clattered to the floor as a small red sprite materialized before Manon, who understandably, despite her otherwise "chill" nature, shrieked. She was home alone, no one to be alarmed by her cry, so she immediately whipped out her phone, hand poised to speed-dial her mother and tell her to come home right away to help her kill this big freaky red bug.

"Hello! I'm Tikki, and-" the floating bug-eyed creature was cut short by Manon slamming the box shut on her, and she disappeared inside. Sighing with relief, Manon slumped onto the couch, trying to shake the heebie-jeebies from seeing such a large insect inside her house. As she came to her senses, she decided not to bother her mom about a bug in the middle of an actual crisis going on in the city, and opted to text her friends about it instead. 

Manon - _guys YUCK there's a huge bug here and im home alone so i cant make my mom squish it with her big heels. this is worse than the akuma!_

Elise - _jlaskjhfdk how many legs are we talking here ???_

Remy - _send a pic_

_Remy - make it disturbing, I wanna freak out Elise_

This prompted a small text spat between Remy and Elise about respecting the phobias of others instead of using them for one's own amusement, which Manon decided to ignore in favor of trying to get the bug picture for them. Why they bothered to have this discussion in a group text with her when Remy and Elise were probably sitting next to each other at Remy's house cuddling for safety right now was beyond Manon. She rolled her eyes.

She held her breath as she creaked the box open to get the picture, much more slowly this time in order to ensure the creature trapped within wouldn't escape and be loose in the house again. However, even with the box open just a tiny crack, the magical light poured out once again, as did the red floating creature, who attempted to speak a second time.

"You don't have to be afraid! I'm here to help you, actually!" Tikki noticed Manon scrambling to try to close her in the box once more, so she decided to reveal her more enticing information. "Ladybug sent me to you!"

That stopped Manon cold in her tracks. Ladybug? Sent something to Manon? She and Ladybug had almost never interacted, and even when they had, Manon had been akumatized and thus lost her memory afterward. This made no sense.

"My name is Tikki, and I am now your kwami. You are needed right now, to become the new Ladybug and save Paris!" 

Manon blinked. She took a deep breath, then picked up her phone briefly.

_Manon - bug is gone but i didnt get a pic :/ talk later!_

She set her phone back on the couch beside her, then forced herself to look at the kwami and attempt to understand what had been said to her.

"I can't be Ladybug, there already is a Ladybug, and she's the only one who knows how to fight Hawk Moth anyway," muttered Manon with a thousand-yard stare. It was half to herself, half to Tikki, trying to convince them both at the same time. Tikki shook her head.

"My former holder, the Ladybug you knew, has retired, and you have been chosen to take up her duties and cleanse Paris of Hawk Moth's Akumas."

Manon tried to absorb this information with grace, but in reality her eyes were glued to the box in her hands. "So this is a miraculous? This-This is Ladybug's miraculous here in this box in my hands in my house?!" Her excitement was growing, beginning to outweigh her fear and confusion. It was a dangerous combination of emotions that had the potential to make her do something thoughtless, like accepting.

"How do I do it?" she asked, not looking away from the earrings within the box she held.

"To transform, you say 'Tikki, spots on!' 'Spots off' to turn back. When--"

"Tikki, sp--"

"WAIT," Tikki cried, desperate to not be sucked into the earrings before she finished explaining. "Please, wait until I tell you the other things! It's important that you know your powers going into this."

"I use the lucky charm to win, I only have a few minutes after the lucky charm before I change back, I have to keep my identity a secret for some reason, and when I win I shout 'miraculous ladybuuuuuuug' and everything gets fixed." Manon mimed as she described the powers, attempting to assure Tikki that she did indeed remember how Ladybug had operated in the past. Shrugging, Tikki floated over closer to her, now confident that Manon wasn't afraid of her anymore.

"Okay," Tikki ventured, "If you're ready, let's go fight this Akuma. Ladybug is counting on you, and she knows that you can do this, Manon!" 

How did the kwami know her name suddenly? Manon's brain pondered this while her mouth gave the transformation command and she felt the magic wash over her for the first time.

All at once she felt both protected and exposed as a tight suit appeared covering every inch of her tan skin from neck to toe. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to cement that feeling into her memory for when she was having a bad day. She felt invincible, and she hadn't even taken a step yet. Bouncing over to the mirror by the front door, she felt energy flowing across her skin's surface and making her otherwise thoughtless movements even easier and smoother than normal. She turned around and around in the mirror, looking at every inch of her suit.

She looked different from Ladybug, she thought, but she also felt more comfortable with this outfit than she felt she would in the old Ladybug costume. Manon's had the same bodice, all red with black spots, interrupted only by a yo-yo string that was wrapped around her waist. The bodice continued down to her thighs where the pattern cut off and was replaced by pure black all the way down her legs, save for some sheer patches on her calves. It looked a bit like she was wearing a ladybug romper with black athletic leggings underneath, she thought. As she pinched the fabric to see how stretchy it was, she found she was only pinching herself, and the fabric wouldn't lift off of her skin even to wrinkle slightly. Weird. So so cool, but weird.

Her normally unstyled hair had been twisted into a high side ponytail, a red ribbon securing it. Upon her face was the same mask she had come to know on Ladybug when she was a child, and for a moment, locking eyes with herself behind Ladybug's mask in the mirror, she was staring into the past. At a hero who was treasured, but long gone. What was she doing again?

She turned to examine the back of her costume in the mirror more thoroughly. Manon noted a black line down the center of her back ending above her tailbone which she assumed was meant to resemble the split on a ladybug's back where its wings hide when it's not in flight. Her arms were covered with more red with black spots, changing to pure black from her wrists to her knuckles, resembling fingerless gloves though her fingers were covered with more red.

A large crashing noise resonated throughout the city, and Manon was reminded of the live broadcast of the action. Her mom! Her mom was going to be supervising footage of HER fighting an Akuma. It was going to be a little difficult to lie to her mom about this later.

With no more Tikki to tell her what to do, Manon figured she was on her own, and it was time to start the fight.

\----------------------------

Sprinting across the Paris rooftops, gardens of hope and life bloomed inside Manon's chest, magically enhancing her every move. The wind rushed past her, but she felt no chill, heard no rush in her ears from it. She was certain she was running faster than she ever had, even faster than when she had sprinted to push Elise out of the way of an oncoming bicycle the previous week. That girl never looked where she was going.

No, this was bigger than Manon and her friends. She was wielding a miraculous, a miraculous given to her by Ladybug, and she was about to face an Akuma by herself. Realization dawned on her, but she pressed on through it, shakily attempting to throw the yo-yo and soar through the air as she had seen Ladybug do so many times when Manon was little. The yo-yo wrapped around a chimney far ahead of her, and as the string pulled taught she was yanked off her feet, wailing through the air. Before she knew it, she had crash-landed in the center of a battle that was already raging.

She scrambled to her feet as a cameraman sprinted directly up to her, immediately shouting "LADYBUG YOU LOOK DIFFERENT TELL US WHERE YOU'VE BEEN" into her face. This guy must be an intern, she thought, knowing her mother would never have allowed a trained staff member to behave in such a way. This is probably his first assignment. Oh well.

"I, uh, don't really have a lot of time to talk right now! I'm going to go, uh," Manon turned to look behind her, realizing she had no idea what she was looking at. "I'm going to go ask that guy what he's doing!" She declared as she successfully used her yo-yo as a grappling hook to swing herself over to where a boy in black was going toe-to-toe with a girl in purple. Landing smoothly, Manon's confidence skyrocketed. She could do this, easy, she thought to herself. She was a natural.

Clearing her throat, she asked the two strangers, "Hey, are you both the Akuma? That doesn't really seem fair, it's my first day!" She pouted at them as she used their distraction to size them up as enemies.

On her left was a boy who looked around the same age as Manon. His curly dark hair was tinged slightly red and cropped close to the scalp, making the black cat ears emerging from the top of his head appear larger and darker. He wore a mask like she did, all black against his dark brown skin, concealing his identity, though his piercing green eyes were unmistakably feline. Looking into them then, Manon realized this must be the replacement Chat Noir. "Oh..." she murmured, before turning her attention to the other remaining stranger, who was now much more clearly identifiable as the enemy.

The Akuma stood with impeccable posture to compensate for her short stature, peering up a sharp nose at the pair of them as her hair rose up around her face in tendrils forming purple snake heads at the tips. The Akuma's violet attire glistened in limited light of dusk, and Manon made out a horizontal dash on the back of each of the Akuma's gloved hands. A minus sign? Her eyes traveled up the Akuma's body, taking her in, but her thoughts were interrupted by the Akuma's declaration.

"I am Redusa! Look into my eyes, PhonyBug!" Redusa commanded. PhonyBug? Ouch. Manon didn't think she was going to be insulted simply for accepting this job, but regardless, she now knew where to avoid looking.

"Oh! That's the Akuma! You must be my partner then? I'm Ladybug's replacement." Manon extended a hand to the ebony-clad boy.

"Call me Le Panthère. It sounds dope," the boy gave a cocky smile, perhaps trying to impress Manon, but she found it hard to look past his use of the term "dope" in casual conversation. Well, as casual as conversations during unprecedented Akuma battles can be. Still, there was something in that cocky smile that gave her pause, and she found herself staring at its crookedness a bit longer than she meant to. As she came to her senses, she realized she might need a name to be called as well.

"I'm, er... I'm Lady....Beetle. Ladybeetle!" That was something, she thought. It sounded enough like something, at least.

"Word, Ladybeetle. Can we get back to fighting this girl now?" Le Panthère gestured with his head to avoid looking into Redusa's glowing lavender eyes.

"Oh, right! Word, yes, right. Okay, here goes!" Taking her new yo-yo weapon firmly into her palm, Ladybeetle tossed it into the air with all her might, eyes brimming with hope and slight fear as she gazed up at it spinning above her head. "Lucky charm!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I have two more chapters of this thing typed out, and somewhat of a direction I want to move in. I accidentally created a very tangled web of plot that I need to pick at before I can go anywhere specific. I will hopefully post more once I have enough written in advance to make a posting schedule. See you then!


	3. A Bit of a Stretch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four months later, and I think I'm ready to post another bit of this story. I'm sorry for the delay! I kinda lost this story for a while and was too busy and frazzled this summer to write. Whoops you guys probably don't care about my personal life. Anyway, I'm back on track now and I've got most of my ideas in order and several chapters written (something like 16,000 words now). I'll post another chapter next week!

The magic glittered out from the yo-yo in the sky, looking very much like a firework. An object materialized and unceremoniously fell into Ladybeetle's waiting hands while she stared at it, waiting for some perfect plan to materialize as well.

"A big rubber band?' Manon asked herself out loud, her earrings beeping to let her know her detransformation timer had started.

"It looks more like an exercise band thing to me, like for working out," Panthere suggested, flexing a muscular arm for effect. Ladybeetle cocked her head and tapped her cheek with her finger, thinking. 

The Akuma approached the pair of superheroes with determination while Manon continued to ponder. Noticing this, Panthere grabbed Ladybeetle by the shoulders and used his staff to elevate the two of them up onto a nearby awning. 

"Hey, Ladybeetle! Snap out of it!” he panted, gathering his bearings. “We have to battle her now, so you'll have to figure that out later." The hero began spinning his baton defensively in front of them, almost practicing the motion.

Ladybeetle couldn’t help her blush, having not been lifted so easily and thoughtlessly since she was a little girl. She wondered if she was that strong with her superpowers too. Deciding to make a move first and think later, Ladybeetle stepped again towards Panthere and wrapped an arm around his waist. Grinning, she threw her yo-yo out to catch onto a roof and yanked the slack out to make the string retract. She was rewarded by feeling her feet leave the awning, Panthere coming too with much less effort than Ladybeetle had assumed it would take to hold them both. 

"Weeeeeeeeeee!" She squealed as they sailed through the air and landed smoothly atop an apartment building. Hearing panting behind her, she looked over her shoulder and saw Panthere breathing heavily but laughing.

"Ha, that was amazing! Thanks for giving me a taste of that, Li'l Red Bug." His eyes were lit up with a fire and vivacity for life that even Ladybeetle could feel invigorating her. It was pretty indescribable, soaring into the sky like that. Ladybeetle caught Panthere's infectious smile and beamed across the skyline, momentarily forgetting the danger below.

"Thanks, uh, Big Black Cat?" Ladybeetle replied as she failed to come up with a better nickname. "You know what, why don't we just stick to what we called ourselves down there for now." Panthere chuckled, nodding. 

"Any ideas for this thing?" Ladybeetle dangled the red-and-black-spotted exercise band from her outstretched index finger. Scanning the area briefly, Panthere shook his head.  
"No dice, mon mignonne." He resigned, looking down once more just in time to miss Ladybeetle's fierce blush. His finely-tuned eyes tracked the enemy beneath them as she walked along the row of buildings the heroic pair were perched upon before setting a fierce, purple glare onto the farthest one away from them. A grunt rose from Redusa's collared throat as the building glowed a matching violet hue and rapidly shrank down from three stories to knee-high. Cackling, Redusa glared up at Panthere and Ladybeetle as they averted their gazes to avoid her power.

Ladybeetle shook off her blush, attempting to regain her composure through the bundle of nerves that was rising in her throat. "Well," she started, her voice shaking slightly, "let's just get into it! No sense standing around up here waiting for inspiration to strike!" Hurling herself off the roof, she let out a "Yaaaaaahooooooooooo!" as she hooked her yo-yo onto a street light and used it to almost land smoothly. In the end, she stumbled a bit, but marched forward pretending it hadn't happened.

"Redusa,” called Ladybeetle, addressing her foe with her gaze firmly locked above the violet villain. “I don't know what your deal is, but it's time to give up the akuma and stop making your own issues all of Paris' problem." Ladybeetle walked past the shrunken building, a bicycle shop with apartments above, and was shocked to see tiny Parisians running from the front door, their screams barely audible due to their size. Ladybeetle gulped.

Panthere thudded down a few meters from her, his landing also lacking practiced smoothness. "How do we know where her akuma is?" He mumbled out the side of his mouth directed at Ladybeetle, casting a look of concern at the shrunken citizens.

"I don't know how Ladybug did it! I'm new to this!" Panic was audible in Ladybeetle's shaky voice. She could leap around and keep fighting all day, but she only had a few more minutes to solve this problem before a whole new issue would become priority. 

Just then, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and was horrified to spot more tiny people running about in the street. She hadn’t noticed them all before; policemen, firefighters, civilians, all barely a few inches tall were running every which way, scattering about the area like mice while trying to avoid being stepped on as Redusa ran cackling toward Panthere.

"Keep an _eye_ out for anything that looks off on her, then!" Panthere shouted to Ladybeetle as he hopped lithely up to grip a planter box on a window above him, then giggled slightly. "Ha! Get it? Eye? Because she's got weird magic eyes? That wasn't even intentional." He spun his baton, releasing his grip on the planter and landing a double-footed kick against Redusa's shoulders. Redusa crumpled and skidded across the street, knocking shrunken people over as she barreled through.

Groaning, Ladybeetle readied her weapon and firmed up her stance. "Just because you're replacing Chat Noir doesn't mean you have to try to make jokes, too. His were never very good, anyway." She quickly caught Redusa in her yo-yo as the raging akuma attempted to regain her footing, jerking Redusa toward her now that she was restrained.

Eyes glowing violet once more, Redusa grinned as she shrank down just small enough that Ladybeetle's yo-yo string slipped easily off of her. A black piece of paper became visible sticking out of her skirt pocket, remaining the same size despite everything else on Redusa shrinking. She quickly returned to full size as she fixed her eyes on Ladybeetle. "Give me your Miraculous, Phonybug, if you know what's good for you!” Redusa scoffed. “You don't stand a chance if that's the best you've got."

"I'm just getting started" Ladybeetle declared, feeling something like rage begin to rise within her. Her body was flooded with a sense of determination.  
Closing her eyes, Ladybeetle charged forth blindly toward where she knew Redusa to be standing. She was guided only by trusting her instincts, which felt sharper than she had ever noticed before as she leapt into the air inches before colliding with Redusa. Instead, she curled into a ball and flipped over Redusa's head to land behind her. Before Redusa could turn, Ladybeetle opened her eyes and cheered "Yes!" to herself before swiping Redusa's legs out from under her with her foot. Redusa hit the ground but bounced back rapidly, on Ladybeetle before the heroine had time to react. The two grappled for a tense moment, meeting each other hand-to-hand in tight combat that required Ladybeetle's entire focus to watch Redusa's hands while avoiding her eyes. 

"Ladybeetle! I'm coming!" Panthere cried as he rushed to aid in her defense against the villain. Running down on all fours for more control, he approached from behind Redusa with his eyes set on the back of her head. As Ladybeetle grunted and landed a few lucky jabs on their enemy, Redusa whipped around just in time to make direct eye contact with Panthere.

"Cat Guy! Uh, Panthere! No!" Ladybeetle frantically gripped Redusa's shoulders and threw her out of the way as she rushed to Panthere's side. She set a hand on him as he nearly disappeared before her very eyes. The knot rose in her throat once more. Picking up her two-inch partner, she threw her yo-yo blindly into the sky, thankful to feel it loop around something high up and whisk them away from where Redusa had returned to laughing and shrinking businesses all around. At the top of her swing's arc, she lighted atop a small hotel and started sprinting across the connected rooftops in the first direction she spotted. Cautiously, Ladybeetle looked behind her to note that her speed was fortunately unmatched by her opponent, and she wiped anxious tears from her eyes with the back of her gloved wrist as she gritted her teeth and returned her gaze forward.

"Panthere, what are we going to do now? I can't fight her by myself, and you're too tiny to even leave a mark on that girl!" Ladybeetle skidded to a stop at the edge of the rooftop when she felt sure they weren't followed. Fear overtook her and she fell to her knees. "I just left all those people! She's going to shrink everything and everyone will blame me for running!" Her lip quivered as she lowered the tiny Panthere onto the roof in front of her. 

Panthere fixed his posture so he stood tall, defying his small stature. "No tears, mon mignonne. Where's that spunk I saw in you before?" Ladybeetle wiped at her eyes once more. There was that nickname again, making her feel a small twitch in her chest in the midst of her already overwhelming emotions. Ladybeetle chuckled to herself at the irony of her partner using a diminutive nickname while she towered over him. Panthere continued his pep talk, oddly sincere for a guy who had called his own superhero name 'dope' when they first met,  
"You don't have to face her alone. We're a team now. And I'm still here, I'm just small! We aren't out of options yet." They both jumped at the sound of yet another beep from Ladybeetle's Miraculous.

"We are almost out of time, though," she cried, curling her shoulders inward as her mind clouded with resignation. "I'm going to detransform in, like, three minutes, and everyone will know who I am and that I'm a failure!" She buried her face in her hands.

Panthere lay a minuscule hand on her knee in comfort. "Hey, listen, did you get a good look at her when she was shrinking herself? There was something in her pocket that didn't shrink with her. I'd bet my lucky sneakers that's where the akuma is."

Really? Are you sure?"

"Yo, those sneakers cost me a whole month's wages from my summer job last year. I wouldn't bet them on something I wasn't sure of." He grinned, his teeth gleaming in stark contrast with his dark skin, and Ladybeetle couldn't fathom how his confidence hadn't wavered. She took in his words for a moment, interrupted by another, more urgent beep from her earrings.

"That's great, but this 'lucky' charm is going to disappear with my costume soon, and I haven't even had a little idea what to--" _Little._ There it was. Her heart swelled with hope, her mind formulating her idea. "Do you know how to use your power?" she questioned Panthere with a wild look in her eye.

"Cataclysm?" He asked her as his ringed hand began to produce black smoke. "Oh, crap! I guess I just charged it up." Ladybeetle rolled her eyes and let out some of the tension in her body with a chuckle. This guy was clueless too, but they were going to figure this out together. She hoped.

"I finally have a plan."

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Redusa's purple gaze shrank the last television crew that had arrived on the scene as she grinned into the camera, "Your heroes have vanished, Paris. There's no one to stop me from turning this city into a scale replica of its former glory!" Miniature Parisians now huddled together behind trees, park benches, anything that could give them cover to avoid being stepped on by Redusa as she paraded around smugly. 

"Hey you purple pain! Don't cut our battle short!" Ladybeetle's voice rang out in the distance. Microscopic citizens cheered at the sight while she darted into view. "Here goes nothing, Cat Guy." She murmured to her partner, whom she held in her right hand against the back of the exercise band. The front of the band looped around her outstretched left thumb. With her tongue out and one eye closed, Ladybeetle locked onto her target and released her right hand's grip on the Lucky Charm, sending the puny Panthere in his exercise band cradle soaring through the air, imperceptible in his tiny stature. The exercise band sailed triumphantly toward Redusa, only to be snagged by a tree branch a couple of meters before hitting her.

"Ha!" the violent villain guffawed. "You super lames don't seem to have super aim! When I catch you, I'll keep you as a souvenir to remember how fun it was to vanquish you. Maybe you and your little feline can live in a snowglobe on my shelf for the rest of your days!" Redusa's eyes glowed faintly, her power seeming to grow as she took a few threatening steps toward the red-clad newcomer.

"I wouldn't get too attached to those plans." Ladybeetle smiled, tut-tutting at the akuma. "Big defeat can come in small packages."

"So cocky while facing your doom, little girl. What happened to the coward who ran crying away just a minute ago?" Redusa's next confident step forward placed her directly below where the exercise band now hung from the tree branch. Panthere let go of the band, perfectly timed to slip into the villain's skirt pocket and lay his destructively-powered hand on the piece of paper inside. It immediately crumbled to dust, and, thankfully, a black butterfly emerged, flitting skyward. Ladybeetle's earrings gave their penultimate beep while Redusa's costume magically evaporated, leaving behind a teenage girl dressed in casual wear.

"Yes! I did it! I did it I did it I did it I did it!" The rouge hero danced about, pumping her fists in the air. "Oh, shoot, wait," she scrambled as she suddenly remembered the need to capture and purify the akuma. Standing on one tiptoe and drawing her other knee up to her chest, she pulled back her arm before letting her yo-yo fly triumphantly into the air, snagging the akuma at the peak of its arc. A beautiful sight if she had ever seen one. She caught the yo-yo and promptly tapped its center with her finger, causing it to split open and release a perfect, white butterfly. With her spunk returned, the spotted heroine retrieved her exercise band from the tree and vaulted it as high as she could above her head, calling out her version of the phrase her childhood hero had set things right with too many times to count, "Miraculous Ladybeetle!"

A rush of red and suddenly dozens of people stood strewn about, still clutching onto each other for safety though they had finally returned to their normal size. An excited Panthere bounded up to Ladybeetle, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her into the air in a spinning hug.

"We did it, mon mignonne!" The reddish-black-haired boy set her down on her feet once more, and she grinned at him as their Miraculouses simultaneously beeped, his for the second time and hers for the last.

"Miss, miss!" Reporters cried, dashing up to the pair and shoving microphones and cameras into their faces. "You've just saved Paris! Who are you? What happened to Ladybug and Chat Noir? Are you their replacements? How can Hawk Moth have returned when he was defeated almost a decade ago?" Questions poured in left and right as Ladybeetle frantically scoped out an exit to escape before her transformation fell.

"I'm Ladybeetle, that guy is Panthere, I don't know, and goodbye!" She chucked her yo-yo at a faraway roof and grabbed Panthere by the tail of his costume as she tugged on the slack and zipped them both away.

\-------

Ladybeetle and Panthere smacked ungracefully onto the dirty concrete in a dingy alley away from prying eyes and the press. Ladybeetle turned her rough landing into a somersault at the last second and rolled behind a Dumpster, splaying out onto her stomach with her feet in the air as she was engulfed in pink light and turned back into Manon. She barely caught Tikki as she flew out of the earrings.

"Ouch. I'm glad your plan saved the day, but carrying me by that belt tail thing is uncool." Panthere stood up and dusted himself off, rubbing the sore spot where he had landed on his rear. "Ladybeetle?"

"Don't look over here!" Manon screamed, squishing up against the filthy Dumpster. "You can't see who I am!"

Panthere's ring beeped, reminding him that his transformation was running out of time as well. "Claws in." Chris Lahiffe stood where Panthere had just been, and he dove behind the opposite side of the Dumpster from where he had seen Ladybeetle go. He had watched as his transformation washed away, leaving him in his regular t-shirt, dark-wash skinny jeans, and flashy sneakers. "Then you stay over there, and I'll stay over here. We should talk about our new sitch, mignonne."

"Cheeeeeese... cheeeeeeeeese," Plagg, Chris's kwami, moaned like a Victorian ghost, whining and floating before his new charge.

"Quiet, Plagg," Chris hushed, "I'll get some cheese crackers when we get home." Idly, Manon wondered if she should give some food to her kwami as well. She reached inside her pocket and produced half a granola bar after rooting around for a moment. Offering it to Tikki, Manon raised one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. Tikki grinned and nodded gratefully before munching down on the snack.

"Cheese crackers!" the little black kwami cried, loud enough for Manon to hear clearly this time. "Why, the indignity! The disrespect! I'm going to talk to the old Chat Noir and arrange a camembert drop-off hourly. I can't work in these conditions!" 

"What is there to talk about?" Manon questioned, interrupting the kwami's tirade as the smell of the Dumpster finally hit her. "Eugh, and I'd rather get out of this stinky alley than chat here."

"I don't see us gettin' anywhere else fast without seeing each other, so settle in." Manon groaned loudly in response. Silence washed over them as they caught their breath.

Manon broke the silence after a few moments, "That was... a lot."

Chris met her observation with soaring enthusiasm, "That was insane! You did a flip! I was tiny! I got shot on a rubber band! You made everyone grow back to normal size with magic bugs!" he recounted, staring dreamily at the rooftops above.

"I really should thank you for figuring it all out back there. I never would have found her akuma without you," the brunette sighed at her own shortcomings before realization struck. "Oh my gosh! We just left the akuma victim back there in the street! Oh, I hope she gets home okay."

"I'm sure she can take care of herself. She nearly took care of both of us back there, if it hadn't been for your quick thinking!"

Manon felt awkward receiving such high praise. As more and more seconds ticked by, she became very aware of the silence she had let hang by not responding, which only made her more anxious.

"Hey, I know I pep-talked you back there, but I really feel kinda... scared. I dunno if I can handle a double life and being a superhero..." he trailed off, but Manon still failed to respond. Eventually, he continued, his mouth confessing his thoughts with little control. "Everyone who knows me thinks I'm this big dumb tough guy, but it actually felt really... good to be the brains for a hot minute."

Man, this guy really needed to talk, Manon thought to herself. Was Panthere just as scared as she was? She hadn't even thought about balancing being Ladybeetle with going to school yet. Wait, 'be the brains?' What did that make her? She scrunched her face into a pout.

"Hardly anybody knows me at all, and I doubt they think of me as anything but the loud weird girl. Am I supposed to have this larger-than-life persona as Ladybeetle and then just go back to living under a rock?" Manon’s reluctant words expressed thoughts she hadn't really grasped yet.

"Maybe. Maybe the Miraculous can be a vacation from who we're expected to be in our everyday lives? That sounds kinda sick to me." Chris felt a small smile of hope spread across his face.

"I would love a vacation, frankly," Manon decided. "In real life, I never seem to actually win. I can’t even get this stupid bully who’s been bugging me since pre-K to leave me alone. But I just defeated a supervillain with a rubber band. That's about as different from regular Ma--" she coughed into her hand to cover her slip-up before continuing, "from regular me as it can get!" She gulped. "Sorry, I don't know why I'm, like, confessing all of this to you, an almost total stranger. You probably aren't supposed to know even those things about my life for secret identity's sake."

"Well, if we're confessing things here, I wanna get something off my chest." Chris took a deep breath. "This ring makes me want to be a hero, but I'm not the nicest person in real life. I sometimes feel like the way my friends and I treat people isn't cool, but I don't want to go against my bros and have them think I'm weak or sensitive or something."

"You sound pretty sensitive to me," Manon smirked down the alleyway.

"Yeah, well, I'm only saying this stuff 'cause you can't see me right now! You better forget this by the next time we see each other, or it's gonna be awkward for both of us!" Chris said defensively.

Manon wasn't able to contain her laugh as it tumbled out of her. "Okay, okay," she relented, "It's like it never happened, Cat Boy.”

They caught their breaths in silent reverie like that for a while, both staring up at the stars above made dim by the shining lights of the city. Chris cleared his throat.

“Well, as much as I’d like to keep hanging out with a cutie by a Dumpster, I’m gonna head home. I got school in the morning.” Chris stood, brushing a laughable amount of black dirt from his jeans. “Oh! Don’t look, okay? I’ll go the other way.”

Manon made a noise of agreement and closed her eyes, waiting for the sound of her unmasked partner’s footsteps to disappear before she stood herself.

“Tikki, do you think I could transform again right now?”

Popping the last bite of the granola bar in her little mouth, Tikki replied, “Mmhm!” She swallowed. “That snack gave me back my energy! Cookies are my favorite, by the way. What are we going to do?”

Manon silently noted that she would need to start carrying cookies everywhere. She wouldn’t complain about that, since she already usually had snacks somewhere on her person, something her mother was always getting on her case about.

“I want to make sure the akuma gets home okay. I think I recognized her.” Manon cast her eyes up and to the right, endeavoring to recall Redusa’s unmasked face, as she had only seen it for a quick moment. Tikki nodded, and Manon gave a determined nod back before uttering her transformation phrase for the second time ever and taking off into the night once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we explore the characters and expand the world a little more. And there's an appearance from everyone's favorite sunshine boy. I realize these chapters are sort of short, so I'm thinking of posting twice a week to make up for it. Maybe Wednesdays and Fridays? We'll see. Thanks, guys!


	4. The New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manon tries to go to school and have an ordinary day after her life-changing night.

The screech of her alarm rather violently shook Manon from an extremely deep sleep. All the adrenaline from the previous night’s events had up and left her as soon as she returned home, and she had unceremoniously crashed, fully dressed, into bed to sleep for 10 hours straight.

The young teen shook out her tangled chestnut locks and rubbed at her eyes, mentally preparing herself to face the day as she slowly recalled what had occurred just 12 hours earlier. Manon almost thought it was all a dream, for a moment, if it weren’t for a certain shimmering red kwami appearing to greet her.

“Good morning, Manon!” Tikki cheered, looking every bit as energetic as Manon wasn’t.

“Uh, it sure is morning, Tikki.” Manon replied with a drawn-out stretch of her arms and neck. She groaned as she attempted to rise from her bed. Her thoughts briefly wandered to her masked partner. She wondered if he was having a similar experience this morning.

“I suppose I should just… go to school like normal, huh?” Manon muttered out loud to no one in particular. Tikki decided to reply anyway.

“I understand you might be feeling like everything has changed, but it’s still important to get your education!” Tikki beamed, then thought a moment. “It’s also very important to make sure everything about your life appears normal to everyone else, so they don’t get suspicious…” Her warning helped her Chosen wake up a little more, Manon’s mind trying to process her new ‘normal.’

“Wow. I’m going to go to school, and no one will know that I did anything at all last night. How unfair is that? I saved all their butts.” Manon grumped, causing the magical scarlet bug to giggle. Tikki floated up a few inches from Manon’s face, beaming.

“They will all be excited and appreciative of Ladybeetle! I bet they’ll be talking about it all day long. You can revel in that!”

“I guess I’ll take what I can get, heh,” Manon quipped, finally starting to get ready for the day.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

“But weren’t you embarrassed, Odette? I mean, you really did a lot of damage…”

“I didn’t know what I was doing! The new Ladybug seemed like she didn’t blame me for anything.”

Manon made eye contact with her petite peer, Odette, as she entered her classroom at Francois DuPont High School before quickly looking away. Despite knowing that her new Miraculous concealed her secret identity, the young student-turned-hero just couldn’t be sure if Odette would recognize her if she stared too long. After all, just last night, Odette had indeed been the victim of the latest akuma, and the first civilian that Manon, Ladybeetle, had ever de-akumatized.

“So the new Ladybug took you home after?” a heavy-set male student named Thom asked of Odette.

“No, actually. She caught up to me as I was walking, and we talked about why I was upset. She convinced me to go back to the concert, and gave me a ride even.” Odette replied thoughtfully.

“What happened at the concert?” Manon interjected. She knew already what had caused her classmate’s akumatization, but wanted to take Tikki’s advice and act innocently in front of her peers.

“I got there soooo early so I could stand near the front, because I’m so, well, short.” Odette frowned, looking down and gesturing vaguely at herself. “After the concert started, people started cutting in front of me, pushing me, shoving me, like they barely even noticed me at all! I mean come on, I’m not THAT small!” She huffed before pausing to take a deep breath and calm herself.

“By the time I saw the black butterfly come down, I was almost at the very back of the crowd! It was ridiculous, and I was so mad. Next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of downtown surrounded by, like, hundreds of people who looked pissed at me, and there were superheroes there.”

“Ladybeetle and Panthere!” Manon’s best friend, Remy, shouted. Caught by surprise, Manon wheeled around to look at him, seated cheerfully next to his girlfriend, Manon’s other best friend, Elise. Remy’s long face was flushed with excitement as he flopped his shaggy, cocoa hair out of his eyes. Elise, always good-natured, chuckled at his outburst.

“How do people already know the new superheroes’ names?” Manon questioned the class at large.

“It was on the news! What, you didn’t watch your own mom’s special report?” another classmate, Genna, answered. Manon blanched. Was it suspicious that she hadn’t watched the news last night? Why wouldn’t she have watched it, knowing full well that the broadcast would be about the new Hawkmoth and the dangers he or she posed to the city? She floundered for an explanation or excuse why she had missed the broadcast, coming up short.

“Er… uh… Well, I--” Manon had never been so relieved in her life to hear the door slam open, cutting her off. She exhaled a deep joyful sigh, even though there was only one person who would burst into the classroom like that.

Chris Lahiffe shuffled aloofly into the room followed closely by his usual posse, a group of three jerks who clearly only listened to Chris because of his older brother’s fame. Dressed in an oversized hoodie and joggers, the boy looked a bit restless. One of Chris’ goons spotted Odette across the class and called out to her.

“Hey, tiny, think you can rein it in next time you get your period?” The boy, called Leo, sneered at the petite girl, who visibly shrank at the attention.

“Shut up! I… I didn’t mean to hurt anyone…” Odette snapped back defensively, taking her seat as her cheeks bloomed red. The class went quiet, unwilling to be the next target of the loudmouthed boys.

Another of the posse spoke up, “What kind of a baby throws such a fit that she gets akumatized?” Odette turned her face away from the mockery, clearly sensitive enough about the issue as it was. Tears of embarrassment began to gather at the corners of Odette’s eyes, and she mentally bid them not to trickle out.

“Leave it alone, Jean!” Manon heard a voice shout at the boy who was speaking. Faces all around the room turned to gawk at her, and she realized with horror it had been her own. Seeing no way out now, she gulped as she stood.

“I’m sorry that you clearly don’t get enough attention at home,” Manon surprised herself with her own ferocity, unsure where the words were coming from as the bully’s eyes narrowed into slits, “but you don’t have to make that Odette’s problem. She didn’t get akumatized on purpose.”

“Listen, Monique,” Leo cut in, calling her by the wrong name either on purpose or because he simply hadn’t bothered to remember it after three years in the same class, “why don’t you just shut up and sit down so we can all go back to never thinking of you again?” The tall, muscular teen strode over and slapped the books from Manon’s hands as he finished his sentence before heading to his own seat.

Manon stood there a moment, letting the events that had just occurred sink in before she decided how to proceed. She watched as Chris, Jean, and the last posse member, Quentin, took their seats in the back corner of the class beside Leo. All laughed amongst themselves, and Chris gave Leo a high five before deigning to glance over at Manon.

“He said ‘sit down,’ Monique,” Chris tossed her way with an upward jerk of his head.

Rage lit up inside Manon, her mouth filling with a sour, hateful taste. Chris and his goons were an evil that she couldn’t overcome, even now that she was a brand new superhero. Somethings will always stay the same, she thought. 

Besides Chris, whose popularity was directly tied to his brother’s success, the members of the posse were all high achievers in sports. Some of them even wanted to go pro. Despite their garish personalities, they were objectively attractive as well, as far as teenage boys went, at least. Two of them were tall, tan, and lean, while the third, Quentin, lacked in height but made up for it in musculature and a pretty face. These facts gave them status and power in the classroom, as ridiculous as that was.

Casting a glance to Elise, Manon swallowed the poison in her mouth and bent down to sit beside her. She heard a small scuffling noise as she did this, and soon found herself falling to the floor as the chair was pulled out from behind her. With the wind now knocked out of her from the impact, Manon could only give a cough and a backwards glare to spy Quentin retreating rapidly back to his own seat greeted by a chorus of snickers from his friends just seconds before their homeroom teacher strode easily through the door, apparently unaware of the tension in the room.

“Oh, honey. Come here. I know, they’re the worst,” Elise turned to spit at the cluster of rubes in the back corner as she lifted her BFF from the floor and onto her replaced seat. “Don’t even waste your brain space thinking of them. Sometimes I think that having class with Chris is the price we pay for getting to stare at M. Agreste all day long,” Manon’s best friend mused as she blinked dreamily at their newly arrived teacher.

Manon made a show of quietly gagging now that she had caught her breath. “Yuck, El. The guy’s married to my old babysitter. That means he’s way too old for us.”

“25 isn’t old!” Elise snapped back, swatting at her friend’s arm, “He’s, like, barely out of college! We’re practically the same age…” The pair’s other best friend reached out then to place a supportive hand on Manon’s shoulder, making sure she was okay before he turned to his girlfriend. Manon nodded to him, so he proceeded. 

“Lise, should I be worried? I feel like I don’t have a chance if THAT’S the competition,” Remy grumbled, taking back his hand and jerking a thumb at their ex-model teacher as the man situated himself at the front of the classroom and logged into his computer.

“Ah, relax, _amor_ ,” Elise chuckled, her grey eyes filled with humor, “You’re the star of my heart, you know that.”

“Hell, even a star can’t shine as bright as that guy’s hair, though,” Remy replied, now also staring dreamily at M. Agreste, whose carefully-groomed hair did appear radiant under the fluorescent classroom lights. Manon sighed dramatically.

“You guys are the worst.” She pretended to be upset with her friends, but she was mostly just thankful for the distraction from her previous ire. Elise was right, Chris and his band of meatheads weren’t worth sitting and stewing over. The faster she could move on and pretend that hadn’t just happened, the better. There was really nothing she could do about them, anyway.  
Her mind wandered once more to the previous night, to the feeling of the air rushing past her without hindering her, the feeling of strength beyond her limits as she had swung about the city with her new partner taking down a supervillain. She could barely believe it had happened, so she fingered her new earrings lightly to remind herself that this was solid, this was real. _Mon mignonne._ Manon blinked, sitting up straight. When she closed her eyes, she saw Panthere’s staring back at her in her mind, her chest thumping a bit louder and her mouth feeling slightly dry. Huh.

Pulling out her tablet, Manon fixed her eyes on the front of the room and took a centering breath. Elise reached out to squeeze Manon’s hand supportively as M. Agreste greeted the class.

“Good morning, guys. We’re going to try to get through chapter eight today, and then we’ll start the accompanying lab work tomorrow. Did anybody have any trouble with the reading?” The tall man’s green eyes were warm with compassion for his students and his work. The white lab coat he wore contrasted with the sensible olive sweater and tan slacks beneath it.

Manon jumped as she felt something tap her shoulder, mentally begging for it not to be another goon here to bother her. Turning around, she saw Thom holding out a folded-up piece of notebook paper with her name written on it. Thom gestured with his head over toward Odette where she sat by the window. She smiled warmly and sincerely at Manon before her lip pulled tightly to the side, sheepish. Manon unfolded the note.

“ _Sorry I couldn’t stand up for you, too. Thanks_

 _-O._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Krispy here with another chapter of this story. Bear with me, I am STRUGGLING to come up with things school bullies would do that aren't outright grounds for expulsion. I want it to be realistic and obnoxious, but not too far, ya know? I'll work on it. Thanks for reading! I'll post chapter 5 on Friday. As always, any and all feedback is appreciated.


	5. Pre-Heating

The day whizzed by Manon in a blur of assignments and overheard excited chatter about Paris’ new dynamic duo. She moved from class to class without a thought, but the narrative of the students around her remained the same buzz of excitement and wonder. Before she knew it, the final bell was ringing, and it was time for her to take her leave and head home. 

Emotionally, Manon was exhausted. Her body, of course, was largely unaffected by her gymnastic endeavors the night prior as a result of the magic in the suit. She found, however, that keeping up appearances and watching her every word very carefully to avoid any and all suspicion from her classmates was more weight than she was used to carrying on a daily basis.

“What’s for dinner tonight, then, Manon?” Remy elbowed Manon in the ribs to pull her from the mental fog she appeared to be lost in. The spunky brunette jolted and shook out her jumbled thoughts before turning to her best friend who was watching her pack up her things with a quirked eyebrow.

“Tonight’s menu features a Taleggio, Ham, and Cornichon baked croissant with a summer berry tossed salad accompaniment,” Manon declared in a fake fancy accent, putting on airs about her culinary creation-to-be. A strange, high-pitched, muffled whining noise was suddenly heard from the back corner of the room, and Manon turned to see Chris gripping something in the pocket of his black hoodie with all his might before he loudly coughed.

“What are you looking at, Chamack?” he bit, though the tips of his ears were tinging red with clear embarrassment. Manon rolled her eyes and turned back to her conversation without acknowledging the obnoxious boy.

“Chris, would you mind hanging back after class for a minute?” M. Agreste called out to him.

“Again?” Chris groaned. Manon couldn’t help herself, and she twisted around to stick her tongue out at him, hopeful that maybe their teacher had caught wind of his actions that day.

“God, my stomach is yowling. That’s either going to be really gross, or it’ll star in my hungry daydreams for weeks to come…” Remy grabbed the attention of his experimental chef bff again as he rubbed his stomach performatively.

“Who says you get any?” Manon scoffed, acting offended. Elise laughed her bright, sunshiney laugh as she hung off her boyfriend beside Manon.

“Your mom is lucky that she gets to try it! It’s definitely gonna be better than those bacon onion tempura lollipop abominations you brought for lunch yesterday.”

“When she bit into it, it brought a tear to my eye,” observed Remy. He dramatically brushed a finger across his bottom eyelid as if he were crying right then.

“Sometimes they’re hits, sometimes they’re misses! You still gotta take the shot,” Manon winked. All laughed as they slid their respective backpacks onto their shoulders and made to leave the room.

“Have a good evening, M. Agreste!” Manon called as they exited. Their spirited homeroom teacher looked up from his computer to smile warmly and wave to the trio.

“Goodnight, guys! Good luck on problem #6,” M. Agreste flashed a devilish grin at them, and Remy groaned in response. “Ready, Chris?”

The bully nodded reluctantly and headed for the front of the room as the teacher stood to close the door. Manon was silently disappointed that she didn’t get to hear the beginning of her rival being chewed out by an authority figure. She decided to try to watch his behavior tomorrow to see if he’d really given it to him.

The group of friends chatted casually on the stroll towards home, as they did every day after school. They all lived within the same neighborhood, so they were able to walk together most of the way before diverting onto their respective streets. Manon expounded on her recent trip to the produce market across town in search of the perfect, crisp cornichons she needed for her sandwiches. Elise updated the gang on her latest modern dance routine that she was cooking up for competition, flip-flopping on which moves were too complex for her to pull off in a fast-paced sequence like that. Remy filled them in on how his twin pet frogs were currently in a fight, refusing to occupy the same half of their tank at the same time. Manon suggested couples counseling.

“They’re not a couple, they’re brothers!” Remy shouted, his voice reverberating off the tall buildings surrounding the group of friends.

“That doesn’t always stop a relationship in the animal kingdom….” observed Elise.

“You are not allowed near Erlân and Ramón ever again.”

“Aw, come on! They love me!”

“Nuh uh. You’re a bad influence with those _utterly impure_ frog thoughts you just aired.”

Manon rolled her eyes at her lovestruck besties as they bickered good-naturedly beside her. She loved them so, but thinking of that fact reminded her that, since last night, she was keeping a very large secret from them. Guilt quickly soured her mood.

“H-have a good night, guys. I’ll let you know how the croissants turn out! Maybe there will be enough leftovers for me to bring them for lunch tomorrow.” Manon tried to keep her voice even and cheerful as she turned rapidly down her street, breaking off from the group to hide her conflicted face.

“Oh, uh, bye, Manon!” Elise called at her rapidly retreating pal with a confused wave. She shrugged to Remy, and they continued walking and discussing frog technicalities.

“Are you feeling okay, Manon?” Tikki poked her little bulbous head out of Manon’s backpack to speak into her charge’s ear. A look of concern was plastered on her adorable face.

“Huh?” Manon startled, almost forgetting she had Tikki in there. “Sorry, Tikki. I just don’t like lying to people. It makes me feel… dirty.” The girl frowned.

“I’m sorry to hear that you’re upset, Manon. It’s a tough job to be a superhero, and it’s a lot of responsibility to have foisted on you all in an instant. However, Ladybug chose you because she knew that you could overcome the obstacles and thrive.” The kwami patted Manon’s shoulder with her tiny paw.

“That’s right! Ladybug chose me.” Manon looked confused, struck by the thought. “How does she assume these things about me? Do I know Ladybug?”

Tikki shook her head dismissively, “I am not allowed to speak the name of my previous owners to those who don’t already know it. It’s a magical spell placed on the Miraculous to protect secret identities if a kwami is captured, so don’t even ask,” she chuckled. “And anyway, I think maybe you should just get inside and look in your physics book.”

“I promise I’ll get the homework done, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Manon replied, twisting her head to look at the little bug creature over her shoulder with a curious quirked brow. “Science _is_ usually my worst subject, but M. Agreste is a good teacher.”

Tikki shrugged and nodded. As they came upon Manon’s building, the girl keyed her code into the pad next to the front door and took the elevator to her floor. Once inside her apartment, she flopped her bag down on the couch and set about getting her dinner ingredients out of the fridge.

Tikki watched her new Chosen as she worked, a look of determination and excitement on the teen’s face like a great artist struck with inspiration. Manon turned the TV on for background noise, pulled out a cutting board, and began slicing up deli meat, cheese, and tiny pickles while the oven preheated. The brunette danced gracefully about the kitchen, pulling armfuls of sauces and liquids from the refrigerator, several spice jars from a tall cabinet, bowls from the dishwasher. Tikki caught the sparkle in Manon’s eye as she made various concoctions from citrus juices, vinegars, creams, seasonings, and oils in little bowls.

Twenty minutes later, the sandwiches were in the oven, roasting the croissants to a golden brown while the cheese melted. Manon wiped sweat from her thick brows and took down her hair from the ponytail she had tied it back into, shaking it out to her shoulder blades with a sigh.

“Phew. I hope this one works!”

“You look so alive while cooking! Is this a hobby of yours?” Tikki questioned, hovering over to the tired girl.

“Yeah!” Manon perked up instantly at the mention of her special interest. “I’ve been cooking things by myself since I was little, because my mom was always gone at night working. Over the years, I think my tastes have strayed from the norm, though…” she trailed off with a light giggle, reminiscing about the strange dishes she had come up with just in the last month.

“I think you have great taste,” Tikki beamed, “and I can’t wait to try a tiny bite of that sandwich when it’s done.” The hungry kwami rubbed her hands together and licked her lips, looking at the oven.

Manon laughed and felt herself relax slightly. She had really come to love cooking. Someday, she thought maybe she could open a restaurant, or maybe a bistro, to showcase her unique recipes. That is, if enough people actually liked them. She made a mental note to pinch off a tidbit of her sandwich to slip to Tikki during dinner later without her mother noticing.

Right on cue, Manon heard her mother’s key unlock the apartment door as the oven timer was about to ring out. Quickly telling Tikki to hide, Manon slipped on an oven mitt and pulled the tray out of the hot oven just as Nadja entered.

“Hey, Mom!” greeted Manon.

“Hi, Sweetie. How was school?” The pixie-haired talk show host replied to her daughter.

“Ah, nothing to write home about.” Manon shrugged, deciding not to vent about Chris and his goons today. She wanted to keep her spirits up to enjoy dinner.

“No new drama with that boy today?” Nadja asked anyway, like she had read Manon’s mind and decided to pry.

“Ahhh,” chuckled the girl, “He gave some trouble to Odette, the girl who got akumatized last night? She’s in my class.” With her face turned away from her mother, Manon frowned briefly as she glossed over the detail that she had been targeted by them as well, and may have even made herself an enemy of the group with just a few sentences.

“That’s a shame. I hope she didn’t let him get in her head. He seems too stupid for her to trouble herself with.” Nadja shook her head and looked up at the ceiling. She had heard plenty of earfuls about Chris Lahiffe and his jerky jock pals over the years, ramping up now that he and her daughter were in high school. Nadja had even had some talks with various teachers and Principal Mendeliev regarding the rambunctious behavior, but the problems always returned in time.

“Exactly, Mama. Plus, M. Agreste held him after school when we were leaving. Here’s hoping he got expelled!” Manon’s optimism was a bit misplaced in vengeance, but Nadja decided to let the girl have her fantasy. “And he seemed kinda jealous when he heard me talking about these sandwiches,” Manon grinned with pride as she plated the croissants and poured homemade dressing on the salad she had crafted. Nadja lit up, hunger in her eyes.

“You’re too good to me, Manon.”

. . . . . . . . . . . .

The croissants were a success in Manon’s book. She may sometimes find out that not every idea was as delicious in execution as it sounded in her head, but lately she had been right more often than wrong. Even Tikki agreed, having eagerly gobbled up the bite Manon offered to her when Nadja’s back was turned during dinner.

After the dishes were cleared, Manon packed the remaining few croissants into a container and slid it into her lunch bag for the next day. It was time to start her homework, she realized with a groan. The teen slung her backpack over her shoulder and marched into her bedroom to begin.

Flicking on the light, Manon was greeted with the comfy, familiar sight of her room. Three of the walls were an ashen grey color, accented by the fourth wall which was almost neon teal. Leaning against the accent wall was her dresser, tall and white with several keepsakes and curios on top such as Ladybug merchandise and little Japanese keychains made to look like miniature foods. A bookshelf stood proudly next to her queen-size bed, full of fiction novels about girls who go on adventures and participation trophies from various sports Manon had played as a child, but never exactly excelled at.

Her desk was triangular in shape, placed in the corner with a large, plush rolling chair at it. The great window beside it gave her a view of the streets below and the buildings surrounding, as the apartment was on the 7th floor. Manon placed herself elegantly in the chair as she tossed her bookbag onto the ground beside her before slumping and groaning at the idea of homework once more. She flicked on her lamp, which was clipped to the bookshelf between the desk and her bed in order to provide light to both.

As Manon flipped open the heavy textbook to read her first homework question, a yellow piece of paper stuck to the page caught her eye. Lifting it to catch the light, Manon read the mysterious note curiously. It seemed to be an address, though Manon didn’t recognize it, and a time, 8 p.m. Her heart leapt into her throat when she saw the initials in the bottom right corner: 

“ _-L.B._ ”

Her eyes snapped to the clock on her bookshelf instantly. 7:36, it read. Manon’s golden eyes blew wide as she glanced rapidly between the note and the clock, urging her brain to form thoughts. Once she managed to push through her shock, she flipped open her personal laptop on the desk and speedily hopped on a navigation website. The walk time to the address was almost half an hour.

Manon stood before she even finished thinking, twisting her long hair into a braid lightning fast, two strands of cowlicked hair hanging loosely over her forehead as they always did when her hair was pulled back. The frantic girl grabbed her backpack and tore through the apartment to the front door.

“Are you going out, Manon?” Nadja turned around from where she sat on the couch to look at her fleeing daughter.

“Oh! Mom! Ah, yeah! Remy is having…” her mind blanked briefly, “relationship issues? With his frogs! Not Elise. We’re gonna help him! But I gotta go right now so bye!” Manon blew a kiss to her confused mother as she tugged on a light jacket to face the brisk evening ahead, and then she was gone.

Tikki floated along behind Manon down the hallway of the large building as the girl decided the stairs would be faster than the elevator. The kwami looked sheepish.

“Oh, right. I did tell you to check your physics book, didn’t I? Sorry, I got a little distracted by the food.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me! I think the Wednesday and Friday update schedule will work for me, so I'll continue doing that. I really like getting to know these characters I made up and feeling out their personalities and interests. Next time on TMTBB: a late-night meeting, a few answered questions, and one dusty massage parlor. See you next week!


	6. We Meet Again

Parisian drivers had no qualms, it seemed. Cars rushed by Manon as she sprinted through the streets of the city she called home. Sometimes, the force of one speeding past would cause the trees to shake and Manon to lose her footing briefly, but she pressed on. She had left her building at a power-walking pace, but quickly accelerated as her excitement grew. She was going to meet Ladybug!

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been running. Several blocks, at least. The nearer she got to her destination, the fewer people there were milling about on the streets. Manon’s surroundings grew unfamiliar, but streetlights continued to illuminate her path, her braid reflecting back the light with a honeyed glow as it flopped against her backpack with each step. The chilly evening air bristled Manon, but her jacket shielded her from most of the effects. Her cheeks, however, grew rosy from both the effort of running and the wind burning them.

As the frazzled young girl hotfooted past a street sign and read it, she skidded to a stop, waving her arms at her sides to keep her balance on the edge of the curb. Oh, crap! She already passed the address she was heading to. Whirling around on a tiptoe, Manon found herself facing a rather dilapidated structure. All lights were off inside what appeared to be a long-since abandoned massage parlor. A thatched awning hung over the sidewalk, stained brown from years of rainfall. Manon didn’t bother to question its sorry state; the address matched the note.

Yanking the door open without a hint of trepidation, Manon heard a bell tinkle above her head as she entered the dark room. It made sense that the door would be unlocked, she supposed, as someone was expecting her here, but it still felt strange to just stroll into a shop with its lights off. It felt an awful lot like breaking and entering, though no breaking had occurred. If she got caught, that was at least a good enough defense.

The room appeared to be completely empty, no equipment or furniture in sight. The walls stood blank, small square shapes lighter than the rest of the wall indicating where pictures and signs previously hung. In the far corner, a tiny stick-on light attached to a back wall illuminated a rectangular shape darker than the wall around it. A door.

Manon proceeded through the empty room, avoiding tripping on the uneven floors due to the modest light that filtered in from the streetlamps outside. A buzzing sound gave the brunette a jolt, and she realized she had just received a text. Her heart leapt into her throat. From Ladybug?

_Elise: Agreste was NOT joking about #6!!!!_

_Elise: What did you get, Manon?_

_Remy: Plz help us we are stupid_

Ah, not from Ladybug. Manon swallowed, both from seeing on her phone clock that she was five minutes late for this meetup and realizing she had left her homework far behind her for the night. Oh well, she had bigger things to deal with at the moment. Maybe she could get an extension? She slid her phone back into the pocket of her lavender and teal windbreaker, remembering then to unzip it now that she was indoors. She steadied herself, patting down the loose hairs that had been shaken from her plait before cracking her knuckles to psych herself up.

“Tikki?” Manon whisper-shouted. The kwami emerged from Manon’s purple spotted backpack, glowing visibly in the dim room. “You should be safe to float around out here. I could use you as a flashlight,” she giggled, and the kwami nodded.

“You know, you probably could have gotten here faster if you had transformed,” Tikki provided. Manon’s eyes blew wide at the realization.

“Ohhh,” she groaned, “Man! You’re right. This is official Ladybeetle business, so I would totally be allowed to transform for it! It… didn’t even occur to me…” Manon trailed off, surprised that it had somehow slipped her mind that she could morph into a super strong, super fast, nearly invulnerable superhero at a moment’s notice. She was still adjusting to her changed reality.

Gentle yet eager hands went ahead and gripped the knob and twisted. The door creaked open noisily and with much effort. A few cautious steps were taken inside, as the room was pitch black, and Manon was unsure if there were obstacles in her path. The smell of dust and mildew invaded her nostrils. She coughed as she pulled up the collar of her windbreaker over the lower half of her face, bidding her eyes to adjust to the low light, to no avail.

“Hello?” she whispered, so loudly it almost came out as a hiss. The way the sound carried suggested the room was vast. Tikki floated in front of Manon to provide slight illumination, revealing some old furniture nearby covered with large pieces of canvas material. Across the room, a creak sounded. Manon startled, stumbling into a covered side table before righting herself. “Who’s there?” she demanded to know, raising her objectively small and non-threatening fists.

“Hello, Manon,” a disembodied yet familiar voice sounded off. Manon startled once again, but shook off her jitters. “Hi, Tikki,” the voice smiled warmly. Tikki opened her mouth to respond, but a handful of green bubbles emerged from her throat in place of words. Odd. The Kwami shook her head with a slight laugh at herself before trying again.

“Ladybug. It’s so good to see you again.” 

The voice addressed Manon once more, “Sorry about the darkness. Without Tikki, I have nothing to disguise my identity, and I’m not ready for you to know who I am yet.” Tikki wanted to float over and give her old wielder a hug, but she knew Ladybug was right, so she stayed put, hovering just in front of her new Chosen’s face.

Manon’s heart fluttered then sank. For the past half hour, she had been rushing here with the idea that she would get to be the first person to find out Ladybug’s identity. She couldn’t help but be disappointed that her hero wouldn’t trust her with this information after obviously deciding she could be trusted with a Miraculous.

“Why not?” Manon tried to keep the whine from her voice, but a bit sneaked out against her will. Great, now Ladybug was going to think she was a brat.

The voice chuckled lightly, “I’m sorry, Manon. I know you were probably curious. But, as you can imagine, this is one of the best kept secrets in Paris, and I can’t go revealing it to just anybody.”

‘Just anybody?’ Did Ladybug know Manon or not?

“Then why did you call me here?” Manon questioned, her voice even as she got over herself.

“I’m sure you were surprised by everything that happened last night. I gave up my duty to protect the city, and I felt I owed you an explanation for foisting it onto you.” The voice, now clearly belonging to Ladybug, sounded somber.

“It has all been a bit difficult to adjust to, but I’m trying my best,” Manon admitted after a beat of silence.

“I’m really proud of you, Manon. I chose you because I have seen your potential, and I know you have the heart of a hero. Your instincts tell you to run into danger and help those in need rather than running away. And your mind works just like mine, finding the most creative solution to a problem rather than the most efficient. You’re going to make a perfect Ladybug, or, Ladybeetle, is it?” Manon could hear Ladybug’s proud smile in her voice. The girl’s heart warmed, almost unsure how to take such high praise from her lifelong hero.

“I didn’t wanna copy your name, of course, but there aren’t a lot of good options out there, and I was in a time crunch,” Manon explained, sheepish. Ladybug’s voice laughed again from across the abyss.

“It’s a lovely name, and it works just fine for you. I liked your outfit, too, by the way.” Ladybug took a few steps forward, and the light Tikki emitted allowed Manon to see Ladybug’s feet up to her knees before the remainder of her form faded back into darkness. An exercise in trust. Manon stood her ground, resisting the urge to lean forward and make out a clearer picture of the retired heroine. She could at least see that Ladybug was wearing flats, and her pants were cuffed at the ankle.

“Thanks, Ladybug.” Manon’s heart glowed as she finally began to absorb the approval from her childhood hero. Curiosity quickly overtook the feeling as a question burned in her mind. “What about Panthére?”

“What about him?” Ladybug asked, confused by her query.

“You explained why you chose me, but what about Panthére? Did you choose him, too?”

“That is… A good question,” Ladybug cautiously replied, unsure if the answer would be revealing too much to the fledgling hero. She shook out her head to clear her thoughts and decided it was safe to tell her. “Chat Noir and I came to the agreement to retire together. We spent a long time talking about who we would pass the Miraculous on to. In the end, I chose mine, and he chose his.”

“What did he choose him for?”

“You seem awfully curious about him,” Ladybug teased, eliciting a redness to appear on Manon’s face that was even visible in the darkness of the room thanks to Tikki’s glow.

“I just… uh… I feel like it’ll help me work with him if I know more about him…” Manon defended. “There’s not always gonna be time after a battle for us to chat it up, ya know?”

“Well, I’m certainly not stopping you from meeting up with him outside of battles if you think it’ll strengthen your partnership,” Ladybug dangled the idea before her charge, “just as long as you don’t reveal too much.”

“Really? I can just use these whenever I want?” Manon bubbled excitedly, pointing to her dormant earrings though she couldn’t tell if Ladybug could see the gesture in the darkness.

“I trust you to exercise discretion. Anyway, to answer your question, Panthére is somewhat... different from you.”

“How so?”

Ladybug laughed awkwardly. “I am struggling to decide what I can say here without giving too much away, so I’ll just say this. You know who you are, Manon. You know what you like and who you like to be around. Panthére doesn’t have a good outlet for his true self in his civilian life. Chat Noir understood that better than anyone, and he hoped the Miraculous could help Panthére break out from the role he had fallen into. Does that make sense?”

“I think so, at least,” Manon ventured after a brief pause to absorb the new information.

“That’s why I believe you’ll work well together. You both have things you can learn from each other as you grow. I hope you guys got along okay?”

“We did! I think. I’ll have to ask him, I guess.”

“I’m glad to hear it, Manon. Is that all of your questions for now?”

Manon’s eyes widened at the idea that _that_ could be all she wanted to know from _Ladybug_. She let out a guffaw. “Not even close!”

“Okay, how about I start explaining my story, then?”

“Yes, please!” Manon perked up, leaning back to sit on the covered side table she had tripped on previously. She heard Ladybug sit down on another piece of covered furniture. Though she couldn’t see her, the tell-tale groan of old wood told her.

“I’ll start with this: besides being the former Ladybug, I am the guardian of the Miraculous. It is my sacred duty to decide when and how to distribute the Miraculous in order to defeat evil. It is…” Ladybug paused the speech she had rehearsed for this meeting, guilt creeping into her tone, “it is also my duty to prevent the Miraculous from falling into the wrong hands, but I… failed.”

“Failed how?” Manon asked.

“I let the butterfly Miraculous fall into the wrong hands, as it did over a decade ago when the first Hawkmoth used it. That’s why there’s a new Hawkmoth, and I’m scared that they’re more powerful than the last.”

Manon quivered. Ladybug, scared? She was already not feeling very confident about her ability to rise to the superhero challenge, but now that she was hearing her hero was fallible, Manon sank even lower.

“But I’m going to make it right. That’s why I Chose you, Manon. I will help you, and you and your new partner are going to defeat this new threat. I believe in you.” Her smile was audible once again, her tone brimming with hope and promise.

“When the first new Akuma appeared last week after a decade of silence, it took me by surprise. I stood to fight instantly, just like always, but the Akuma disappeared into the past. While the time-traveling hero I sent after him took care of that, I had a bit of time to think and take in the situation. I decided, along with Chat Noir, to retire and pass on my Miraculous.”

“How did you lose the Miraculous? And why did you retire? What happened to the old Hawkmoth? Do you know who Chat Noir is? If you do, why can’t I tell Panthére my identity?” Manon ventured the probing questions, unable to contain herself any longer.

“I can explain everything, if you’d like, but it’s kind of a long story,” the former hero laughed awkwardly at herself.

The new Chosen crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap, looking up at the black blur that was Ladybug, the former hero of Paris, with her eyes bright and her jaw set. She didn’t have a lot of time before her mother would be worried about her staying out too late. It was a school night, after all. However, her curiosity always outweighed any critical thought she could have otherwise had, so she looked to Tikki, who nodded back. Finally, the girl opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m listening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Wednesday! I'm back with another chapter. Do I leave too many of these things on cliffhangers? Nah, nah, it's fine. I'mma keep doing it. 
> 
> I'm super excited to post the next chapter! I wrote it something like two months ago and have just been fine-tuning it since then. It is mostly a flashback to ten years prior, via a story told by Ladybug to Manon. It was nice to be able to write about characters I already knew instead of the ones I made up for a chapter or so lol. Looking forward to LB and CN being more major players in this thing because they're so fun to work with. See y'all on Friday, and thanks for reading and giving feedback!


	7. Open Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for a scene with the original heroes? Yes, I think so.

_He let his guard down. He knew the battle was important, possibly the most important of any of their lives, but he faltered, just for a moment, when he saw the woman in suspended animation before him. That was all it took for Hawkmoth to close the distance between them on the catwalk within his lair._

_Though nine heroes surrounded him, Hawkmoth now held all the power within his very hands that gripped harshly around Chat Noir’s throat, lifting him into the air. “I know the identities of everyone within this room,” Hawkmoth smirked, his voice a low growl, “except for Ladybug, and _you_.”_

_“C-cat-” Chat Noir sputtered weakly for breath, but the chokehold was quickly cutting off the blood supply to his brain, and he began to fall unconscious._

_“Catacl--”_

_Before the feline Miraculous wielder could charge his ring with destructive energy to prevent it, Hawkmoth hungrily and triumphantly snatched the precious jewel from his slender, gloved finger. In an instant, his transformation fell. In an instant, he was exposed to a room of his peers. In an instant, he was exposed to Hawkmoth._

_Gasps echoed around the room. It had all happened far too quickly for anyone to avert their eyes and protect Chat Noir’s identity. The entire brood recognized him as their peer and loyal friend; Ladybug recognized him instantly._

_She wanted to fall to her knees. She wanted to let the realization of countless truths wash over her for hours and hours on end, but she couldn’t feel it. She had to act now._

_As Hawkmoth’s look of evil satisfaction fell into something of shock and confusion, he dropped the now-unmasked Chat Noir quickly onto the ground. The blonde scrambled backwards away from him as Ladybug instantly launched into action. With a quick flourish, Ladybug lifted her unmasked kitty bridal-style and threw her yo-yo to shatter the great window above the woman in the sarcophagus before leaping them both through it. The other heroes didn’t need to be told outright to follow suit, all diving to escape before Hawkmoth got his bearings._

_Next came the running. Ladybug felt all her senses come alive as adrenaline coursed through her, and yet she was blind. Her legs carried her with Tikki’s strength across rooftops of buildings until she was satisfied with the distance she had gained. She looked at her surroundings. Ladybug had run to an abandoned warehouse, the same warehouse where the showdown with Copycat had occurred years earlier. They could be safe here, for a few minutes at least, while they both adjusted to their instantly-changed worlds._

_The door creakily slid open with difficulty, rust crumbling and falling like a light snow from the iron track it moved across. The noise was accompanied by footfall behind Ladybug. She spun in a panic to see who had followed them, but was met with the somber faces of seven heroes she had hand-picked to save Paris. Seven heroes feeling the weight of the revealed identity of their own hero almost as much as Ladybug was. They stared at her, waiting for her to command their next move._

_Ducking her head, she avoided their gaze but relaxed some. Nothing in her world made sense, so she decided to march on and entered the warehouse. Dust coated every surface, from rafters to large crates with tarps draped across them. The particles caught the light of the high windows that shone in beams from the apex of the roof down to the floor on which they stood. Ladybug dared herself to glance down at the boy she carried, who hadn’t moved an inch. She caught his eye to measure his expression. He was gazing up at her with eyes sparkling with all of the fear and uncertainty in the world._

_Setting him down wordlessly, Ladybug backed away to give him some space. The other Miraculous wielders had filed in and closed the rickety door behind them. They were alone together, all staring at Chat Noir’s civilian form without a word, standing in a circle surrounding Ladybug and him. Unsure of her own thoughts, Ladybug spoke a single phrase with her eyes closed._

_“Tikki, spots off.”_

_Eyes slammed shut around the room as the pink glow overtook the spotted savior of Paris, and the other superheroes wondered if this was a private display of trust. One orange-clad girl stepped forward first and spoke, eyes still gently closed in solemn solidarity._

_“Trixx, let’s rest.”_

_“Wayzz, shell off.”_

_“Pollen, buzz off.”_

_“Longg, open sky”_

_“Sass, scales rest.”_

_“Kaalki, dismount”_

_“Xuppu, nap time”_

_A sob wracked the black cat wielder’s body as he witnessed the unmasking of every hero of Paris. Blinding light rushed around the room in every color of the rainbow as Kwamis came out from Miraculouses to reveal their charges. All around him, his dear friends emerged from behind their disguises to reveal they had been unknowingly beside him all along, to let him know they were on his side no matter what happened. A confounding cocktail of joy and fear and shame swirled about Chat Noir’s mind as his eyes fell upon his Lady, now before him in plain clothes he also recognized. All the heroes were his classmates, including his muse, his true love, his Ladybug, a girl with the same shining bluebell eyes and pure, hero’s heart._

_The now-exposed Ladybug offered him a shy smile, sort of crooked, sort of lovely and perfect to him. Chat Noir rose to his feet from where he had been crouched cowering on one knee. Meeting her gaze, an expression passed between them which conveyed years of love and trust and self-doubt, all neatly wrapped up as she strode forward with tears in her eyes, lifted his chin, and placed her lips on his._

_The kiss was triumph despite their defeat. Warmth, love, heartbreak, ecstasy, surrender, hope, innocence, a shining spectrum of emotion surrounded them as they broke apart. The previous ten minutes fell away. What could be wrong in their world right now? Staring into the eyes of the love of her life and her best friend, made one in a second by their greatest enemy. The unmasked Ladybug couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her flushed face despite herself. Chat flashed back a dopey, lovey smile to match._

_“It was you, with me all along. I’ve loved you since the day you handed me that umbrella in the rain years ago. I’m so glad you’re also my best friend.”_

_Chat Noir’s eyes widened with realization. “I...I’m the other boy you love? Me?” The Ladybug wielder giggled at the irony and gave an embarrassed nod._

_“Of course it’s you. It had to be you,” he couldn’t hold back his grin through his tears. “I’ve loved you since our eyes first met,” he admitted._

_“Awwwwwwwwwwww.”_

_Their reverie was broken by two familiar voices crooning at the pair. Rena Rouge and Carapace, now having transformed like the rest and opened their eyes, spoke the thoughts of everyone in the room who stood watching their confession. Chat let out the tension from the scene via a bright laugh before turning his gaze about the warehouse to take in the sight of all of his friends._

_Rena and Carapace. Ryuuko. Viperion. Pegasus. King Monkey. Even Queen Bee. He knew all of them as civilians. Every Miraculous wielder he fought alongside had been alongside him every day in his civilian life as well. No wonder they all made such a natural team--_

“You _DO_ know who Chat Noir was?” Manon interrupted the former hero’s tale with her blunt curiosity.

“I know now, yes. I didn’t find out until I recognized him as his transformation fell.” Ladybug answered. She had been recalling the events of that day vividly. Of course, she had left some important details out of the yarn she was spinning for her successor, such as identities and locations, to avoid revealing herself or any other Miraculous holders quite yet. It wouldn’t really be fair to give away nine secret identities to a girl who barely knew any of them behind the mask, after all, so Ladybug continued to refer to the detransformed wielders by their hero names.

“Why don’t you tell me who _you_ are then, since every other hero knows each other now?” Manon pouted, annoyed at the walls her childhood hero was putting up around herself.

“Everything in time, Manon. I want to tell you why I had to pass on the Miraculous, and to do that I need to tell you the story of the first Hawkmoth’s defeat.” Manon’s head tilted down, dejected. She had really believed she would be unmasking Paris’ former scarlet heroine that night when she read the note.

“I already knew the identity of every other hero, being the one who chose them and all,” Ladybug continued. “However, I didn’t know Chat Noir’s identity despite becoming Guardian, because it was just too dangerous. Even if Hawkmoth got every other Miraculous, even if he captured Chat Noir or me, we wouldn’t be able to reveal who the other was because we truly didn’t know. I believed it was the only way to be completely certain that Hawkmoth wouldn’t win. I only revealed myself then because the mask had fallen, and I realized that Chat Noir needed someone to take the fall with him. Hawkmoth already had his Miraculous. We needed no secrets left between us in order to prevail.”

“How _did_ you defeat Hawkmoth without Chat Noir then?” Manon mused.

“Wait for me to get to that part!” spouted Ladybug before composing herself. “I mean, I’m sorry, just let me finish the whole story before any more questions, okay?”

Manon gave a tentative nod, her interests far too piqued to interfere with hearing the rest.

_Wave after wave of clarity washed over everyone in the room as they laughed and looked at each other, embracing often. Of course Ladybug’s civilian counterpart was always late for everything! Of course the Ladyblog always got the best exclusive interviews. Of course Ladybug had chosen them in particular for their Miraculous. The mood in the room quickly devolved from solemnity into buzzing relief as the warehouse filled with their chatter._

_“Brooooo, did you know I was King Monkey? I didn’t know you were that horse guy at all! How funny that we’re best buds and couldn’t tell!” King Monkey barked to Pegasus between tearful laughter._

_“My name was ‘Pegasus,’ thank you. I had my suspicions, but I was only 38.4 percent certain that King Monkey was someone I knew based on your appearance at that house party.” King Monkey seemed to barely register Pegasus’s words and lifted him in a bear hug without responding._

_Ladybug took Chat’s hand and approached the fox wielder cautiously. She expected a shower of rage to rain down upon her as her best friend realized her deceit. Instead, the pigtailed civilian received a sharp slug on the shoulder from the red-haired girl as she let out a loud, glorious cackle and fell to the ground in a fit._

_“You--AHAHAHA HA--you were Ladybug the entire--” Rena gasped for air to continue as she wiped tears from her eyes, still on the dusty ground, “the entire time! And--HAHA HAAAAA HAHAHA--and I never noticed!” The reporter rolled around, getting dirt all over her jeans. She was simply giddy as Carapace, Ladybug, and Chat all stared on wordlessly._

_Ladybug rubbed her shoulder where she had been punched and winced. “You’re... not mad?” she ventured._

_“If I am, it’s only at myself for letting you convince me you were innocent! HAHAHAHAHA AHA--I had you PEGGED, girl! I was bugging out for Ladybug and you were always ditching and showing up late with terrible excuses. I suspected you so hard, but you convinced me otherwise! I should have trusted my journalistic instincts.” Rena Rouge took a few deep, loud breaths to calm herself before extending a hand to her boyfriend to help lift her off the concrete floor of the warehouse. She dusted her pants off briefly before chuckling again at what little effect it had on the amount of dirt she then wore and giving up._

_Ladybug exhaled a great sigh of relief and launched forward for a tearful hug with her BFF, getting dust and floor grime all over her own clothes from touching the fox’s. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry for lying to you. I had to protect you--and myself,” the unmasked spotted heroine cried._

_“I understand, girl. Nobody’s read more superhero junk than I have. I knew Ladybug trusted me when she gave me interviews and a freaking Miraculous, so I knew there must be a reason you wouldn’t tell me who you were under the mask.” Rena grinned from ear to ear at her super favorite girl. Ladybug matched her._

_“Thank you, Rena.” Ladybug turned. “Thank you all, for everything,” she looked about the room wearing a face of pure pride. “For your bravery. For your cooperation. For your trust. For joining together just now and declaring with your actions that we are stronger all together. I’m sorry for lying to all of you, and hiding who I was. I am so thankful to have you all as my most trusted and honored friends.” A tear rolled down her cheek._

_“Friends is a strong term, but I’ve grown to detest you less, Bug.” Queen Bee stood with her arms crossed. Despite being obviously affected by the scene, the girl was pretending to be aloof, turned away to avoid direct eye contact with all those to whom she had grown closer during their last few years of high school, all those who had made her feel accepted when she couldn’t find the same feeling at home. Everyone silently decided to not push her to open up, as strong positive emotion was clearly a new feeling to the wealthy blonde. Everyone except King Monkey, who grinned at her and placed his hand on top of her head to ruffle her hair. “Hey, knock it off, you dolt! Don’t mess up my blowout!”_

_Ladybug shot her a smirk before continuing, “I chose each and every one of you for that something special you have. We are going to need all of that and more to turn the tide of this fight. We had Hawkmoth cornered when he somehow got the drop on us.” She turned to her unmasked kitty and spoke more quietly, only to him. “What made you falter back there? You looked like you had seen a ghost.”_

_The blonde boy had his face cast down at the ground. He looked up through his hair to meet his Lady’s eyes and took a small, steadying breath. “It was…” he gathered a few more breaths as he felt himself growing dizzy trying to comprehend what he saw, “It was my mother.”_

_Ladybug stumbled briefly despite having been standing still. Rocked by this news, she searched her brain for information on his mother. “But she went missing, right? I’m sorry, that probably sounds terrible. I just mean--I mean how would Hawkmoth have her if he didn’t appear until a year after she disappeared?” The girl silently scolded herself for stuttering in front of Chat Noir, thinking how he would laugh at her for being nervous around him if this were a normal encounter. She couldn’t help it. She was still grappling with his identity and combining the two in her head._

_“Maybe he was holding onto her but waiting for the perfect time to strike? I don’t think we can know what Hawkmoth’s motives for any of his actions are unless we take him down and find out who he is beneath his mask.” Chat fixed his posture and stood resolute. He turned to his gaggle of friends. “I am so thankful to you all for what you’ve done for me. I can’t put into words what I’m feeling right now. I’m sorry that I let that villain get the better of me, and now we are working with one less hero. We need to get back there before he finds a new place to hide.”_

_“I have a plan,” declared Ladybug from behind him. Chat Noir turned to her, beaming with love, a look often worn by her Chaton during battle, and took her hand._

_“You always do, m’lady.”_

_“You dork,” she laughed as she poked his nose._

_“Enough flirting, let’s get this over with so I don’t have to watch you two be disgusting anymore!” Queen Bee jeered. She had a point, despite her intentions._

_“We’re going to need to give out one more Miraculous.” Ladybug stated matter-of-factly, much to the confusion of everyone around her._

_“To whom?” Ryuuko asked._

_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._

_Nine Miraculous Wielders, one out of costume, followed underground tunnels to the lair once more, ready for anything and stronger than ever. The former black cat clung to King Monkey’s back as they burst through the metal door. Eerily, the cavernous room sat empty, just as they’d feared. Hawkmoth had fled._

_The group split up to examine the catwalk, the entrance, and the walls with Ladybug taking her Chaton to examine the sarcophagus beneath the window. The blonde, awestruck boy took slow, cautious steps toward it, waffling between averting his eyes and facing reality head on. When he reached the top of the short steps, he gulped and looked down. It was her. She was here, and she seemed to be breathing._

_His mother was alive, after all of these years. She had been taken by Hawkmoth, but she was kept alive in some sort of suspended animation. Awash with happiness and horror at the sight of her and the state of her, Chat gripped Ladybug’s gloved fingers tightly, measuring the feel of the fabric of her suit as he rarely felt it with his bare skin. Nothing in his world made sense or felt real right now. He was probably going to need some therapy._

_“Do you want to help her?” A disembodied voice spoke hauntingly from the shadows. Smooth, bristling, tantalizing. Chat jumped with a start before snapping his head around, searching frantically for the source._

_“Show yourself!” he cried, unsteady._

_From the dark far corner of the lair, a figure in blue emerged with a fan held up to her face. Mayura spoke once more. “Do you want to help your mother, Chat Noir?” Except she hadn’t called him Chat Noir. She had referred to him by his civilian name._

_Chat shuddered. How did she know his name? If Hawkmoth recognized him, he must have told his lackey who he was, he supposed. Everyone in the room turned to watch the unarmed teen’s reaction, waiting for Ladybug to tell them if they should take the Peacock wielder down right now. Chat’s body lit up with rage at the thought that Hawkmoth not only had seen him unmasked, but knew his name. “Come over here and ask me again, you coward!” Ladybug gripped his shoulder to prevent him from charging forward._

_“Stay calm now, kitty kitty. You should hear me out. There’s someone waiting for you in your room. If you come alone, he will tell you how to save her,” Mayura continued_

_“In my room?” Hawkmoth knew where he lived? Mayura turned beside her and typed something into a small keypad against a tube. The tube opened and she stepped inside before extending her navy-gloved hand out to the boy across the room._

_“Come with me, I have to show you where we are.” Mayura mewled._

_Ladybug tightened her grip on her love’s shoulder. Turning to look into her eyes, Chat Noir wore a sorry expression as he laid his hand upon hers and gave it a squeeze. Then, he lifted her hand off of his shoulder and stepped forward. “If something goes wrong, you’ll have a plan. I know I can count on you, Ladybug.” And he crossed the catwalk to the waiting villainess as the rest of the heroes of Paris stared on in shock._

_Mayura took his hand and pulled him inside the clear vertical tube. The door shut in an instant, and Ladybug felt her heart catch in her throat as the uncertainty of their situation dawned on her. My prince is counting on me, she thought. She had to think quickly._

_Ladybug looked at the gaggle of animal-themed superheroes she had gathered. She felt hope blossom within her heart at the sight of those she trusted most in the world. Together, they could overcome anything, and they would all protect each other. A cleansing breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth, and Ladybug’s previous plan reformed itself to fit their developed situation. She saw what to do with renewed clarity as she set her jaw and let a determined look cross her eye._

_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._

_His house. His own home. The platform had risen through the tube and delivered Chat Noir and Mayura into Chat’s house. The lair was underneath him all along. Hawkmoth was close by all this time._

_The petrified boy swallowed the lump in his throat and refused to let any expression pass over his face. Mayura was measuring his reactions carefully to be sure, and he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that her mind games were working. Mayura herself failed to react as well, as though she was not enjoying what she was doing. Chat Noir glanced over at her standing beside him and realized he was taller than her. That felt strange. Stranger still was how she dodged eye contact with him when she had given it so sternly within the lair seconds earlier._

_Instead, Mayura took his hand once again and began heading for the door. He drifted along behind her in a daze, silently praying for Ladybug to be able to get him out of this one. Finally, the pair stood before the great doors to Chat’s bedroom. Without a moment of hesitation, he ripped his hand from Mayura’s clutches and threw both doors open, charging forward to see who was there to meet him._

_Chat Noir’s father sat at the end of Chat’s bed, his elbows on his knees, his fingers steepled, his chin resting on them as he stared straight forward in deep thought. Confused, the boy approached him, trying to decide whether or not to address him first._

_“Father?” he decided to break the deafening silence in the bedroom._

_“Come in, son. Thank you,” Hawkmoth addressed Mayura by her civilian name suddenly. A name Chat Noir recognized. Something cracked, it was almost audible._

_Fragments of Chat’s world were falling off into space as he jerked his head around to watch the blue shadowy figure enter and close the door behind her. His father’s assistant?_

_“You-you’re--N-Na--?!” Panic shook Chat’s voice. His resolve was crumbling. He wanted this all to pause so he could take a moment to think. Before he got the chance, his father spoke up._

_“All this time, you were lying to me. You deliberately fought against me when you had NO idea what I was fighting to protect... Fighting to achieve. You stood in my way of bringing her back. Your mother would be ashamed to know that you got in the way, but at least you had the excuse of ignorance before. Now, you have a choice.” His father raised his voice as he went, seeming more and more threatening than he had ever felt to the boy before._

_“Against you? And mom? What are you talking about, Father? Forgive me, I don’t understand why you’re angry with me!” Chat couldn’t put together all of the pieces he had been handed that day. His mind was too fragile at that point._

_“Nooroo, dark wings rise!” The lavender light made Chat Noir hold up a hand to shield his eyes. As his father stood from the edge of the bed, he was overtaken by a familiar costume. Hawkmoth._

_“Father!” Chat cried, backing up as quickly as he could until he felt the ridges of his bookshelf slam into his spine. The sudden contact nearly made him fall over, but he tried to remain standing. Yes, lots of therapy, he thought to himself. The thought was more of a shout over his other thoughts which hummed and buzzed too loudly for him to understand them._

_“Get me Ladybug’s Miraculous, and I can cure your mother. She can come home, and we will be a family again. If you choose to defy me, I will not hesitate to Akumatize you to my bidding. Your emotions are so strong right now they are practically assaulting my senses. You would make an easy target.”_

_“What’s wrong with Mom? You’ve had her this whole time? She never left? She wasn’t kidnapped?” The questions kept tumbling off the end of his tongue despite how dry Chat’s mouth had gone._

_“I’ll tell you everything after we save her. Do this one thing for me son, and I’ll never ask you for anything else again.” Hawkmoth looked almost apologetic for a moment. “Please, son. Help me.”_

A sudden, jarring noise echoed in the dark room. The sound of a marimba being played from one end to the other with a wooden mallet repeated itself again, accompanied by a rumbling vibration.

“He--” Manon cleared her throat to calm herself as she answered her cell phone, “Hello?”

“Hi, sweetie. Are you heading home soon? It’s getting late,” Nadja spoke.

Manon looked around frantically. “Uh, uh…” She had to make a decision. She hung her head, her voice becoming hollow. “Yes, I’m just leaving now, Mom. We got it all worked out with the… the frogs? The frogs, yeah! I’ll see you soon.”

“Don’t worry about it, Manon. I’m sorry for asking you to meet me so late on a school night. I guess I wanted you to have one more normal-ish evening before I started in with all of this responsibility,” Ladybug soothed her pupil. “Are you free tomorrow after school?”

“I think so. I’ll have to dodge my friends, though,” Manon replied thoughtfully. She frowned at the idea of lying to more people, and Ladybug took notice of this.

“I know more than anyone how this secret can affect your relationships. If you would rather meet some other time--”

“No!” Manon slapped a hand over her mouth after her abrupt outburst, then pulled the hand across her cheek to toy with her Miraculous earrings in an attempt to play it off. “I mean, I really wanna know what happened next, and I wanna talk to you again as soon as possible and as much as possible!” Eagerness dripped from her every word. Manon was not going to pass up this chance to learn about something greater than herself.

Ladybug gave a soft laugh, and Manon could just barely make out that Ladybug had put her hands up in front of her. “Alright, alright, then I’ll see you here at, say, 4 o’clock?”

“You bet, Ladybug!” Manon looked down at her jogging shoes as she zipped up her jacket once more. Then, thinking of the idea, she called out her transformation, closing her eyes so the light that enveloped her wouldn’t reveal Ladybug’s identity to her. The suit traveled rapidly across her body, filling Manon with that feeling that she could do anything, that she was invincible. In the blink of an eye, she was Ladybeetle again, and she took off for the door of the building to begin her route home, much faster than she had been able to go the opposite direction earlier.

“Good luck, Manon,” Ladybug murmured into the darkness before her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully it wasn't too confusing to call them all by their hero names even though they were detransformed for part of the story. Also, whoops, another cliffhanger. Next time, Manon goes back to school and tries to absorb what she's learned so far from Ladybug, but things get hairy. Comments always appreciated!


	8. A Bone to Pick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra update this week because I've got a lot of material written ahead of schedule, woohoo! Let's get back to present-day for some action.

A banana oatmeal pancake hung from Manon’s mouth as she walked distractedly to school the next morning. She took tiny, thoughtless bites from it as her mind meandered every which way, parsing thoughts and trying to make sense of them. 

Ladybug knew the identity of every Miraculous wielder in Paris. Manon of course knew Ladybug had defeated the first Hawkmoth, as it had been all over the news a decade prior. The beloved spotted heroine had held a press conference alerting the public that the danger was over, showing the reclaimed Butterfly Miraculous to the cameras as proof but claiming that a regular jail was not the right place to rehabilitate a supervillain. 

The public was up in arms for a few weeks, arguing back and forth whether Hawkmoth had any right to retain his secret identity or not, whether the city he had terrorized for three years had a right to know his name. Ladybug and Chat Noir took a lot of heat for their decision to keep quiet, but did everything they could to convince the citizens that this was the right thing to do. Manon’s mother had even gotten to interview Ladybug and Chat Noir directly on the topic.

 _“Prison may rehabilitate him,”_ Ladybug had said to Nadja, sitting in a large armchair under the studio lights on primetime cable, _“but, if he does change, how can he ever have a normal life again? If everyone knows who he is, he will have lost his family, his name, everything. No one deserves that.”_ The audience gave a loud, mixed reaction of noises. Chat Noir sat strangely quiet, staring intently at his Lady.

 _“People are saying that you should value closure for all Parisians over the privacy of a terrorist. How do you respond?”_ Nadja probed for clarity.

 _“I’m just as mad at Hawkmoth as you all are,”_ Ladybug turned to face the camera directly before continuing, _“but I have seen the desperate man behind the Miraculous, fighting as hard as he could to save those he loved. He did everything wrong, he hurt everyone in the city in some way or another, and he lost sight of his own humanity in the process. He needs to be held accountable for his actions, but not in the court of public opinion, where Parisians could be judge, jury, and executioner.”_ Chat Noir reached out and placed a hand atop Ladybug’s as she finished, smiling calmly.

_“Can Paris still count on Ladybug and Chat Noir, should a new threat arise?”_

_“Of course, Nadja,”_ Chat Noir grinned, finally speaking up. _“My Lady and I may have defeated Hawkmoth, but Paris is our home. We will stand to protect it as long as we are able.”_

The words echoed around in Manon’s head. _...as long as we are able_. What happened, what changed? What could have gone wrong that would cause them to retire? Ladybug hadn’t sounded upset or broken in the slightest last night. Maybe a bit ashamed to give up her ‘duty,’ as she had said, but still just the same as she had always sounded: brave, excited, alive.

Now the thought came to her mind, unbidden: had Ladybug only protected Hawkmoth because she found out he was Chat Noir’s father? Manon didn’t want to consider the option. Ladybug was just and true, she had to be! She must have had her reasons for refusing to out him. Though Manon was quite young when it all happened, she remembered how Ladybug’s stance on the situation had opened her eyes, in a way. It was then that she had started to grow up, to understand that the line between good and evil wasn’t as firm and solid as a child would like to believe. It was blurry, and messy, just like she would come to find the rest of the world to be.

Pigeons cooed as they flew and wandered lazily about the streets, as they did every morning. The familiarity of it was enough to lull Manon to sleep, almost. Her mind was moving too quickly for that. After all, when would the next akuma strike? Manon had started cataloging a list of excuses she could use to bail out of class in case she needed to suit up at a moment’s notice, but she was nervous to try them out. She wasn’t a very practiced liar. 

The girl didn’t dread being called to action again, though. In fact, she felt guilty for how constantly she had wished to catch that feeling again in the day and a half that had passed, knowing that it meant that someone would have to be victimized by Hawkmoth for her to be needed. Since she was little, Manon had wished for powers that would make her ‘win,’ even to the point of becoming akumatized _twice_ to gain them. Now, her power came with responsibility, but it also came with a freedom she had never known, and a partner she was eager to know more about.

Panthére had indeed been on Manon’s mind a bit since their battle. She grew exasperated with herself over what seemed to be a schoolgirl crush she was developing on a guy she had met literally only once. The little nickname he called her, the way he had said he was proud of her, the pep talk he delivered with just the words she had needed to hear, all of it swam around in the young girl’s chest until it formed a slurry of confused emotions causing all of her blood to rise to the surface of her skin. Didn’t hurt that he was handsome, to boot.

Manon gripped both of the French braids she had put in that morning with each hand and tugged down on them, groaning aloud at that last thought. She _really_ wanted to see him again, if only to get him off her mind for just a moment.

“Uh, you good there?” Manon jolted from her internal monologue as Remy’s voice met her ears. Turning to her left, her friend stood right beside her. Apparently, she had stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk, and he had caught up to her. She dropped her hands to her side and stood resolute, her firm posture not exactly portraying the cool, calm demeanor she intended it to.

“Yes!” Manon chirped just a little too loudly.

Remy reached out suddenly and grabbed Manon’s chin firmly. She gave him a questioning look as he jerked her head this way and that, examining her. As his gaze swept up and down her full body, he seemed satisfied and let go.

“Well, you look fine to me. What’s going on?”

Manon swallowed the lump rising in her throat. She could do this. She could totally lie.

“Nothing!” In her mind, she slapped a hand to her forehead. Great, that was convincing. “I didn’t do the homework last night. That’s, uh,” her brain began giving her material more quickly than she ever expected it to as the pieces fell together, “that’s why I didn’t answer your text about it. And now I’m all panicked hoping Agreste will let me turn it in late!” Her shoulders relaxed as Remy looked appeased and understanding, though she didn’t feel great about how naturally she had just managed to bend the truth.

“Well, he doesn’t really seem like the type to bite your head off, right? It can’t hurt to ask,” Remy advised, a reassuring smile spreading across his face.

“You’re probably right. Thanks, Remy.” Manon grinned as she lifted on her tiptoes to ruffle his hair. Remy’s growth spurt the previous summer had finally put him taller than Manon, but that wouldn’t stop her from embarrassing him like that if she could help it. As she predicted, his cheeks went red as he slapped her hand away and went about laying his hair back down.

“You’re never gonna stop doing that, are you?”

“Not until your hair stops being so… tousle-able,” Manon decided, starting up her forward stride again with a self-satisfied smirk. Remy sighed and slumped dramatically.

“Hey, guys!” Elise called from where she stood checking her phone outside the school. Remy and Manon waved back while they looked both ways to cross the street over to her before the group all headed into class together.

Their teacher arrived a few minutes before the bell this time, giving Manon a perfect opportunity to beg for her extension. Sure, her reason for skipping the homework was valid enough. What was she supposed to do, not go meet Ladybug to discuss her sacred duty and learn about the past? However, she obviously couldn’t tell M. Agreste any of that. Thus, he would have no real reason to grant her the extension. Manon mentally prepared herself to just accept a failing score on this one. After all, it was just daily work and didn’t make up a huge percentage of her final grade. She marched bravely forward to speak to him.

When she stood in front of his desk, M. Agreste merely looked up at her with curiosity, waiting for her to explain her presence. Manon let the silence hang between her and the older man for a bit too long, her false confidence faltering, and he raised an eyebrow at her before she finally spurred herself to speak.

“Uh!” Off to a great start, she thought. “I mean, uh… Sorry, last night I wa--well, actually my book didn’t--uh….” The teacher continued to stare at her, his smile offering slight encouragement for her to simply pick a sentence and finish it. She cleared her throat. “I didn’t finish the homework last night. Is it okay if I turn it in tomorrow instead?” Before she even spoke the last words, her eyes scrunched shut and she leaned away slightly, bracing for the blow of rejection and probable reprimand for failing to do her work.

M. Agreste smiled a crooked smile, like he was enjoying a private secret to himself. “Yes, that’s fine, Manon. I’ll put a note in the gradebook so I don’t forget later. Did you need help on any of the problems?”

Manon felt her jaw drop. She hadn’t even given an excuse and he was letting her off the hook? Was this guy just the nicest teacher there ever was? Once again, she let the silence linger for longer than necessary. The longer it went on, the more impossible it felt to speak any words into it, like there was a mental block stopping her tongue, so the girl just shook her head slightly.

“Okay then,” M. Agreste broke the silence for her, rising from his chair and stepping over to the whiteboard to begin class. “Head back to the lab tables with everyone else, and don’t forget to tie those braids back! Safety first.”

“Thanks!” Manon squeaked, barely audible. A few stumbled backwards steps and she turned around to take a stool behind one of the lab tables with her friends.

“How’d it go?” asked Elise.

“It worked. He gave me the extension.”

“Sick!” Remy interjected, raising a hand up which Manon excitedly high-fived. “Nice job.”

Class began without a fuss, and Manon made sure to take thorough notes so that she’d be able to actually finish the assignment this time. The lab itself was at least interesting enough, providing context to help the girl understand the previous day’s homework and capturing her attention and focus for the length of the class period. Before long, the bell gave a loud, tinny chime, letting students know it was time to leave homeroom and go to their next scheduled class. Manon packed up her bag and headed for the door.

“See you for Lit, then, guys!” Manon called to her friends over her shoulder. Her next class was Physical Education, so she made her way among the throngs of students moving through the halls and down the stairs to the locker rooms to change.

Inside, the brunette spun her combination dial, hung up her bag within the locker, and retrieved her gym kit. Girls on either side of her chatted excitedly about this thing and that thing, but Manon’s ears heard only droning as her mind wandered off again. Did Ladybug also know who Panthére was? Or did only Chat Noir know? There had only been two Akumas so far. Why had they both been Manon’s classmates? Weird coincidence?

Fully dressed in her gym clothes, Manon once again fell into the crowd of students shuffling their way out of the locker room to the central open-air atrium of the school where gym class was being held that day. The instructor told them to start warming up with a few laps around the track and dismissed all the whines and groans the class gave with a toot of his whistle and a wave of his hand. Manon mumbled grumpily to herself before relenting and stretching slightly to psych herself up and begin running.

Nobody really knew Manon in her gym class. She was on a first name basis with most of her homeroom, but she became invisible outside the walls of that classroom, it seemed. The other girls ran in groups or pairs, only splitting up if they needed to pass a slower pupil. The boys ran mostly by themselves. Students would occasionally get competitive with one another, one group of girls all charging forward suddenly to overtake a lone boy who had boasted his speed too much. They laughed as they sprang past him. Realizing then that she had lost track of her lap count, Manon went about trying to recall how many times she had passed the door.

_**CRASH** _

Suddenly, Manon’s body collided with the ground before she even knew anything had happened. Coughs racked her body as she tried to regain her breath, tried to stand up. Her eyes took in the scene before her, instantly changed from its previously routine state. Students screamed and ran for the school’s front door. The teacher was trying to keep them calm as he hurried them toward the exit. Opposite them, bright light poured in from where a great beast had just smashed through the wall, and debris was everywhere. Manon skittered backwards across the floor until she felt her back hit the brick wall. Looking up, she felt reassured slightly by the fact that she had made it under one of the strong, metal staircases which could protect her from more flying debris before panic rushed into her veins.

The beast was breathing heavily as it finally stood. Shaking off chunks of drywall and brick, it turned to face the inside of the school. Canine in appearance, the creature had an oversized head and stood on four enormous legs with a hunched back. Its black-and-white spotted coat suggested domesticity that its glowing red, hooded eyes quickly put to rest. A long, pointed tongue hung loosely out the side of its mouth, dripping drool as it panted. 

The frightened girl realized with escalated terror as she snapped her head back and forth that she was now alone. Her classmates had successfully evacuated, and the room stood empty save for herself and the dog, which was certainly an Akuma. Manon tried to quiet her breathing, begging any deity who would listen not to let the creature spot her. Her ragged breath caught in her throat once more when she realized she had left Tikki in her locker with her bag. She was helpless.

The tiny, choked sound she made caused the dog’s right ear to quirk toward her, raised up to listen. _Oh, no._ Its giant head swept across the room until its gaze centered on Manon and the dog crouched to the ground. Slowly, agonizingly, it began to move forward, its giant paws shaking the floor slightly with each step. It approached her like trapped prey. As the beast closed in, Manon finally let all hope for herself fly out the window and opened her mouth to scream for her life.

The sound of shoes touching down on the ground interrupted her desperate wail. Both Manon’s and the dog beast’s heads snapped toward it, the dog standing back to its full height, at attention. Manon shuddered as she peered around the edge of the staircase to see who had arrived, and her heart gave out a jolt of relief at the sight of him. _Panthére_.

The hero extended his baton, eyeing the beast in a challenge. The beast took off toward Panthére, snarling and growling all the way. Panthére ducked and slid under its legs at the last second, standing up behind the creature as it skidded to stop from slamming into the wall. He held something behind his back, and Manon watched as Panthére lifted it above his head and began shouting.

“Here, boy! Here, look, here! Good boy, go get it!” Panthére threw what must have been the leg bone of a cow from a butcher’s shop farther than Manon’s eyes could see. Much to her relief, the great beast reared up on its hind legs, giving a sharp howl before it took off, charging through the wall in front of it to chase after the treat. Manon almost collapsed onto the ground. Her heart had been through enough for the day.

“Manon!”

The girl looked up. Faster than she could blink, Panthére was in front of her, grabbing her arm and yanking her up before looking her over for serious injuries.

“Are you okay?” Panthére questioned frantically, his eyes searching hers.

Manon stared back at him, unblinking, her eyes as saucers. His face was inches above hers, an intimate proximity Manon rarely experienced. Her cheeks flushed as she struggled to find her words when a realization struck her. “How do you know my name?” Had her partner already discovered her secret identity that quickly?

“Well, a teacher outside said you were missing from his headcount. You are Manon, right?” Panthére thought quickly and replied. He let go of her arm and stepped back from her, but didn’t seem entirely reassured with her safety. As her heart fluttered, Manon was somehow both mourning the loss of closeness and yet relieved to have her personal space back.

“M-Manon, yup!” Manon stammered, “That’s me!” The girl steadied herself, standing on her own now without his help. At the sight of her dusty clothes, she blanched and set about brushing them clean a bit too aggressively. _Come on, you dope, he’s never going to think you’re cool if you act like this._ Manon’s mind chided her for her behavior.

“What’s happening out there?” She questioned Panthére, cool as a cucumber.

“Huh? Oh, right, well,” Panthére shook himself from staring at the disheveled girl and continued, “akumatized dog walker. Not sure what he’s mad about, but his dogs are giving me a ruff time.”

Manon’s eyes rolled into the back of her head. “Well, that was pretty quick thinking there with that bone.”

“Thanks!” Panthére seemed elated at her praise. “I actually used that trick on two other dogs on my way over here, so I already knew it would work. They’re wicked food-motivated.”

Manon nodded, taking note. “Good to know…” she murmured, a far-off look in her eye.

“Anyway, you have to get out of here. We don’t know if the dogs or their master are coming back here.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and started to gently direct Manon to the door.

“Wait!” Manon jumped back out of his reach. “Sorry! Uh, I need to get my bag.”

“Your bag? You can come back for it after! Your safety is more important than whatever--hey!” Panthére’s words died in his throat as he turned around to spy Manon disappearing behind the locker room door as it gently shut behind her. He sighed in defeat before taking out his baton and checking to see if Ladybeetle was on her way yet. The tracker showed no recent activity, so he attempted to call her, which went straight to voicemail. He began to feel uneasy.

Bursting back through the swinging door, Manon slipped her backpack straps over her shoulders as she ran to the ebony-clad cat hero once more.

“Sorry, I _really_ needed to gr--AH!” Panthére cut the girl off by snatching her wrist and yanking her toward him. Before she could react, he slung a hand behind her knees and the other under her arms, lifting her bridal-style and taking off for the door. Once they were safely outside, he delivered the lost student back to her teacher, gave a salute, and vaulted off on his baton after the mad dog beasts terrorizing the city.

“Well, that was rude,” Manon huffed to Tikki inside her bag, who giggled behind her tiny red paw. The instructor slumped in relief, checking off Manon’s name on his clipboard now that his entire class was accounted for. As he turned around, Manon made a break for it, taking advantage of the fact that no one else seemed to notice her to slip out of sight behind a tree.

“Ready, Tikki? Spots on!” the girl cried, and she was off. Her trusty yo-yo caught on a railing high above her head. A slight tug, and she was whisked away, sailing through the air before tucking into a pike to make her more aerodynamic. 

It didn’t take long for the spotted heroine to notice the pattern of damaged buildings and roads as it meandered through Paris. Streets were torn up from the weight of the giant dogs that must have just run through them. Where were they headed? Ladybeetle tried not to hope too fervently that she’d get some quality time with Panthére again during the coming battle as she skipped across rooftops following the path of destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Manon, all day long: thinking about Ladybug, thinking about her duties, thinking about school and her friends, pondering her future, planning recipes, strategizing balancing her double life
> 
> Manon when she sees Panthere: no thoughts, head empty
> 
> Next time: more action as two teenagers attempt to fight a bunch of dogs and Krispy attempts to write combat with no previous combat-writing experience. See you on Wednesday!


	9. Trust Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Let's fight an akuma!

Landing gracefully at last, Ladybeetle silently cheered herself for starting to get the hang of this superpower thing. She realized she was being jovial during a crisis and swiped a hand in front of her face before putting on a ‘serious’ expression and charging forward. The streets of Paris were largely vacant as she ran, sweeping her eyes from side to side to scope out the damage. The raging mutts had put every sensible person indoors. However, as always, the media remained, and Manon spotted a reporter running with a cameraman hot on her heels.

“Alya Cesaire here for Paris Today. The destruction is all around us as we try to locate the ringleader of this gang of giant dogs, folks,” the reporter called behind her to the audience at home. “This large feral pooch is heading straight for _Place De La Concorde_ , so be advised to stay indoors if you’re in that area. Look, there’s Ladybeetle! Ladybeetle, over here!” She waved frantically.

Ladybeetle considered giving a brief interview, but quickly thought better of it, realizing she hadn’t even located her partner yet in all of this mess. “Sorry, guys! I’m a _little_ busy right now! Maybe later.” She gave a loose salute with two fingers and sprinted on ahead, her super-enhanced speed taking the hero far away from the camera much faster than the reporter could follow. Ladybeetle hoped the reporter would stay out of harm’s way. It seemed reckless to be following unpredictable Akumas so closely.

With the reporter’s tip, Ladybeetle made a break for _Place de la Concorde_ , eventually coming upon another giant dog beast. This one had the same raging red eyes as the one from her school, but had the coloring of a German Shepherd, just one large brown spot on the center of its back. It wore no collar, nor did the other one Ladybeetle had seen. There was nothing on it that could conceivably hold an Akuma. These dogs were minions.

Just ahead, the spunky heroine spied a group of civilians running. The dog was on a collision course with them, with seemingly no regard. Adrenaline rushing through her veins, Ladybeetle swooped down in the nick of time to shield them with her body. She managed to hold her stance firm as she landed, casting out an arm protectively in front of the trio of terrified citizens. The massive beast came crashing into her, sending her flying into the bricks behind, but she was able to recover quickly while the dog ran on unphased.

“Get inside!” Ladybeetle called to the waving, grateful Parisians she had just saved as she swung back up to the rooftops. She paused, steadying her pulse from the dramatic encounter and catching her ragged breath. _Maybe I should start working out._

From her vantage point upon a high roof, Ladybeetle scoped the scene. The dog she was chasing was going somewhere with determination. She could either follow it, or…

Unhooking her yo-yo from her belt, the heroine sent it flying down to the street below. Just as she had hoped, it ricocheted off of a brick building and crossed in front of the raging beast. The momentum of the yo-yo didn’t stop there, and it quickly wrapped itself around the dog’s chest to its back. With a leap, Ladybeetle landed upon the back of the now-stopped dog and set about twisting the other end of the yo-yo around its huffing snout, tying it shut to prevent it from attacking anyone and give her leverage.

Triumphantly, Ladybeetle sat herself down with one leg on either side of the dog’s back. The yo-yo in her left hand, the other end of the string in her other, she pulled her hands back and caused her new steed to rear up. It bothered her slightly to tie up an innocent puppy like this, but she was quickly reminded of the danger it posed to Paris as it took off once more to continue running to wherever its destination was, taking Ladybeetle along for the ride. Hopefully, Panthére would show up somewhere along the way.

Using her makeshift reins, the spotted teen allowed the dog to lead the way while making small corrections herself to prevent as much damage to the surrounding buildings as possible. The great mutt crossed the Seine, turning east on the opposite bank and picking up speed. Ladybeetle followed their trajectory with her eyes until she was looking directly at it: the Eiffel Tower. Of course! Tons of Akuma from the previous generation had ended up there one way or another.

The _Champ de Mars_ was large and open as they reached it, with no supervillain in sight. Ladybeetle faced forward and set about searching for Panthére. The onyx hero hung by his hands from about halfway up the Eiffel Tower, stealthily climbing. Ladybeetle pulled back on her yo-yo reins, causing the dog to halt and sit down on the spot obediently.

“Panthére!” she shouted. Panthére jolted at the loud sound, almost slipping from where he gripped a girder, then jumped again when he saw the slobbering dog beast down below him before realizing his partner had control of it. He clamored his legs until he found purchase once more and exhaled his held breath.

“Shhhhhh!” He hissed, pointing up at the top of the tower. Ladybeetle followed his gesture and was startled to notice a distinctly Akuma-looking man perched at the top, glowering down at her. She blanched.

“Baldoin! My sweet, handsome boy! Here I come!” The villain surged off the platform he had been perched upon, waiting for the arrival of his loyal pups. As he plummeted toward her, Ladybeetle tried to take in everything about him that she could. A mask of blue covered his kind eyes--well, kind despite the evil look on his face. He appeared to be middle aged, with a pencil-thin black goatee jutting out from his chin matching the slicked-back black hair atop his head. His skin was tinted tangerine, like a spray-tan gone nuclear. The Akuma wore a silver bodysuit with many large triangular shapes in red, blue and white adorning it. Around his neck was a thick, red collar with a golden, bone-shaped tag hanging from it. Wrapped around and down his arms were two red leashes, with more red and blue leashes attached to a black belt that cinched at his hips. Lastly, in his hand, he held a small oval-shaped plastic object with a round, metal panel on the front, his thumb poised over the panel at the ready.

“What are you doing to my beautiful Baldoin?!” the Akuma exclaimed as he landed on his feet with a fist to the ground, eyes burning into the hero who trussed up his dog.

“Your dog here was making a mess! I took care of muzzling him for you,” Ladybeetle tried to sound firm while distracting the Akuma from where Panthére still clung to the tower, his position not given away yet. 

The Akuma was agog. “Baldoin is a sweet boy! He has never needed a muzzle before. Get your filthy hands off of him!” Leaping into action, the Akuma landed a flying kick into Ladybeetle’s side, knocking her off the dog’s back and causing her to lose her grip on the yo-yo reins. Now disarmed, Ladybeetle righted herself quickly and stood to face the man.

“How many dogs are coming here, Dog Guy?” she questioned.

“The name is Dog Days, and I’m not telling you anything about my babies.” Dog Days untied his minion from the yo-yo just as another giant dog arrived on the lawn. “Leon! Come here my darling.” The villain pulled a leash from his belt and attached it onto the newly-arrived dog’s neck, where a collar materialized instantly. 

“Begone, bug! I’m going to turn this whole city into my personal dog park.” Dog Days raised the hand holding the small plastic device up, pointing it at Ladybeetle before pressing down with his thumb. It gave a loud click, and, instantly, Baldoin was upon her. “Get her Miraculous for me, my pet!” Ladybeetle scrambled to run away, unsure what direction to head in as the oversized dog gave chase. From where he hung on the side of the tower, Panthére gasped.

“ _Mignonne!_ ” He abandoned his previous plan of sneaking up on Dog Days and extended his baton to ease his landing as he leapt from the tower. Quickly snatching up the discarded yo-yo before the villain could secure it, Panthére began a headlong sprint after the dog as it chased Ladybeetle towards _Rue de L’Université_.

Ladybeetle ran like she had never run before, but Baldoin remained on her heels. She did her best to evade him while avoiding leading the beast back toward more buildings to destroy, but eventually her only exit lay along the Seine. Reluctantly, she continued, narrowly avoiding a nip to her rear end as the beast closed in. She had no yo-yo to swing out of the dog’s path, and no time to dodge to the side and scale anything. The dog began shaking buildings and destroying pavement once more with his heavy tread as he rushed after her.

Miraculously, Panthére snatched up Ladybeetle as the dog closed in. He hoisted them both to a safe rooftop, set down his partner gingerly, and peered over the roof lip to see if the dog was aware of their evasion. The dog had skidded to a stop, plowing through a handful of parked cars before it turned on its heel and sniffed the air to locate his target.

“Yo, Beetle, you okay?” Turning back to his partner, Panthére looked her over as he handed back her yo-yo. Ladybeetle was reminded of Panthére’s recent proximity to her, asking her civilian self the same question after the other dog had busted through the wall of the school. A blush came over her cheeks.

“I’m er, I’m fine! Just had a bit of a scare, though.” She was determined to not let her confidence falter despite how Panthére made her head spin. Ladybug had hand-chosen her. She needed to get a grip. “What’s this guy’s deal?”

“Well, seems like he digs dogs,” Panthére deadpanned. Ladybeetle slugged him on the arm before recoiling back in the fear that her playful gesture was overly-familiar. They had only worked together once before, after all. Panthére rubbed his arm and laughed it off.

“Sorry, couldn’t help it. Anyway, that clicker thing the dude had can call the dogs to him or sicc ‘em on someone he points it at. I’m thinkin’ that’s where the Akuma is. I saw him running for the tower a li’l bit ago, so I tried to sneak up on him and just grab it. I figured I’m dressed in black, why not be stealthy? I didn’t really have a better plan,” Panthére shrugged.

“Man, you really had time to learn all that about the Akuma before I got here? Don’t you go to school?” Ladybeetle looked down below them just as Baldoin locked onto the lost scent, his eyes targeting her instantly up above. She yelped and jumped back, nudging her partner to action before he could answer her question.

“Let’s get a move on! He’s got my scent, so he’s going to follow me. Come on!” she cried.

The pair took off, employing evasive maneuvers to try to lose the tailing mutt. They quickly realized the path they were leading him on was making him a much greater danger to the buildings surrounding them. Ladybeetle sighed.

“Panthére, go on without me! He’s doing too much damage following both of us. I’ll handle it. You go find Dog Days and call me when you’re on his tail.” Panthére was reluctant to abandon his partner with a giant, red-eyed, slobbering monster after her, so he hesitated. Ladybeetle reached out to grab his shoulder, her hand tingling from the contact despite there being two layers of super-suit between them. “Trust me,” she murmured to him. Panthére gave a firm nod, a smile breaking out across his face before he turned to run away. As Ladybeetle had hoped, the dog didn’t follow him. Time to come up with a real plan.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybeetle sang as she cast her yo-yo into the sky above, rewarded with the sight of it spinning and casting out sparkles of pink and white before dropping a red-and-black-spotted object into her eagerly waiting hands.

“A bicycle pump? What am I supposed to do with _this_?!” Ladybeetle groaned, eyes desperately searching the area around her for any clue of how to proceed. The dog below her snarled as he began to climb the building in pursuit of his prize. She yelped and took off running again, this time attempting to lead the dog safely through the wider streets.

Her yo-yo vibrated and rang out suddenly, and she snapped it open without missing a step thanks to her magically-enhanced coordination. Panthére was calling.

“Yo, _mon mignonne_ , I spotted three more dogs wandering around by Montparnasse Tower! I see our bad guy up ahead. Do you have a plan?”

Ladybeetle cast a glance to the bike pump she awkwardly carried with her and gulped. “N-no,” she mumbled out, embarrassed before settling her resolve once more. “No, but I’ll have one before I reach you. I’m on my way! Bug out.” Ladybug’s famous farewell phrase felt right as it rolled off her tongue. Maybe she could borrow _some_ things from her mentor without being a copycat. She flipped her yo-yo shut once more and turned on a heel toward her new destination.

With her confidence renewed, Ladybeetle gained ground on her pursuer. Eventually, he was out of sight behind her, though she could still hear him barreling after her in the distance. She heaved herself off the roof and down onto the surface streets as she continued toward Montparnasse at a breakneck pace. The streets stood empty around her. Ladybeetle was struck by an idea as she sprinted past the abandoned outdoor seating area of a cafe.

A red table umbrella. Her yo-yo. The bicycle pump. The plan was outlandish, but it began to come together in her mind. The brunette hero hopped to the table, yanked the umbrella from its holder and launched herself through the doors of the cafe, slamming them shut behind her and leaning back on them. She panted while she searched for something to cover her scent, settling on a bottle of vanilla extract she spied through a window into the cafe’s kitchen. Ladybeetle inhaled, held her nose, and doused her body in the dark liquid. 

An experimental breath told her that she reeked of the extract, the scent so strong that she could barely stand to inhale in the enclosed space. She ran back to the doors just in time to see Baldoin tear through the street, stopping suddenly and sniffing the air once more. The dog crept toward the cafe and Ladybeetle froze in place, sending out a silent prayer that he couldn’t smell her. The great mutt loudly sniffed the table from which she had yanked the umbrella before a confused look overtook his face, his head cocking to the side in question. He began sniffing the air again until he wandered off in the hopes of picking up Ladybeetle’s scent somewhere else. 

Ladybeetle’s earrings gave a beep just as the dog was thankfully out of earshot. As she was now finally safe from her pursuer, she had the time to collect herself and begin the second step of her plan. “I sure hope this works,” she muttered to herself. The brunette tore the fabric from the umbrella, careful not to rip it too badly. Next, she examined the bike pump and found it to thankfully have a needle attached at the end of the tube. Removing this, she threaded her yo-yo string through it and set about stitching the ends of the umbrella fabric together.

A few moments later, Ladybeetle wiped the sweat from her brow with a triumphant exhale and held up her finished product; she had sewn the umbrella fabric shut until it resembled a deflated beach ball. Turning back to the discarded bicycle pump, she attached the hose to a small opening in her stitching and began to furiously pump air into her creation, overwhelmed with relief as it began to inflate. Before long, the ball was wider in diameter than Ladybeetle’s wingspan, and she was satisfied. She hooked the bicycle pump onto her back and held the ball with both arms, squeezing through the double doors of the cafe as she took off once more toward the nearby Montparnasse.

“Panthére! Heads up!” she called to her partner who was engaged with one of the several dogs wandering the area. Momentarily distracted, he looked up to spy her sailing in and was knocked over by a giant swinging paw. “Oh, shoot, sorry!” Ladybeetle cringed.

“A little help here?” Panthére shouted out to her. Ladybeetle rapidly stashed her giant ball on a rooftop and launched into the fray, landing on the dog’s back and jamming her heel into its side as gently as she could manage. Spurred, the dog started running, twisting around and arching its back in attempts to buck her off. The heroine took her leave of the situation by leaping backwards off the creature’s back, righting herself in midair and landing beside her partner.

“Thanks, _mignonne_ ,” he greeted her. “God, you smell like a bakery on steroids. What did you do?!” The strong scent of vanilla wafting off Ladybeetle was enough to make Panthére dizzy, so he covered his nose with his hand and took a few steps back. With a clawed finger, he pointed to where Dog Days stood, using his clicker to direct the dogs after the heroes.

“Hey! Amie, come back here!” Dog Days shouted after the dog Ladybeetle had just been riding on. “You two are such pests! Give me the Miraculous now or I’ll let my pets play tug-of-war with you.” He gave two sharp clicks and the two closest dogs to the pair closed in on them. Panthére attempted to hold them off as Ladybeetle jumped behind him.

“Cover me while I try to get the clicker off him! Stand over there by that pole if you can.” Ladybeetle winked as she pointed to the pole, her confidence overflowing in her excitement to try out her rather convoluted plan. Panthére nodded with a grunt before performing a back handspring to land where his partner had directed him and evade the approaching beasts.

Sprinting right toward her pursuers, Ladybeetle caught the dogs by surprise as they attempted to stop before colliding with her. She jumped in the nick of time to fly over their heads, grabbing onto a descending gutter tube down the side of a building. Because her yo-yo was presently inside the makeshift ball she had sewn, she had to rapidly scale the gutter herself to reach the top of the building. Ladybeetle hopped to the next roof over where she had stashed her enormous ball as her earrings beeped again.

A steadying breath, a touch of her earrings for luck, and she launched the ball down to bounce off a gate below before it cascaded up into the air and caught the attention of all six dogs now occupying the block.

“A ball?” Dog Days quickly took notice of his minions’ distraction. As the mighty dogs all lunged to grab the ball from the air, he scrambled to position his clicker in his hand to direct the dogs away from him. Before he got the chance, the dog called Amie crashed into him, sending Dog Days and the clicker flying in different directions.

“Now, Panthére!” Ladybeetle shouted as the clicker flew towards where he stood waiting, just as Ladybeetle had hoped.

“Cataclysm!” The clicker crumbled to nothing but black ash, releasing a glimmering black butterfly as it did. “Your turn, _mon mignonne_!” Panthére called as he sprinted forward to land a strong kick on the ball just before a dog could grab it. 

The ball sailed towards Ladybeetle, who snatched it out of the air and yanked her yo-yo free from where it acted as thread holding the ball’s seams closed. She discarded the now-deflated ball. With a showboating wind-up, the scarlet heroine pitched her yo-yo overhand to nab the Akuma as it fluttered away. The yo-yo retracted back to its owner, and she tapped it once to release the purified, white butterfly into the cloudy sky overhead.

“Ladybeetle, that was amazing!” Panthére rushed toward Ladybeetle as she landed on the street and swept her up into a spinning hug. He set her down and stepped back awkwardly. It was his turn to wonder if he was being overly-familiar with his new partner as he took in her shocked expression and flushed appearance. Ladybeetle tried to hear her own thoughts over the thundering in her chest. She laughed off her extreme nervousness.

“Haha! Thanks, _bud_!” she barked out the awkward label and punched Panthére’s arm again, a bit too hard this time as he winced. “Sorry!” Ladybeetle yelped, “I don’t know my own strength in this suit.”

“S’okay,” he laughed it off. “That ball wasn’t a bad Lucky Charm! Looks like the answer was straightforward this time.” He smiled.

“Actually….” Ladybeetle chuckled. Her earrings beeped loudly in her ears, a reminder of urgency. She didn’t really have the time to hang around the destroyed street and explain. “It wasn’t all that straightforward, but I’m glad it worked! Thanks for trusting me.”

“Anytime, _mon mignonne_. Thanks for not letting me be dog food.” His ring loudly beeped as well. The warm, appreciative look on Panthére’s face was enough to melt Ladybeetle into a puddle, but she willed herself to hold on for just a bit longer until she could get away and freak out privately.

“Of course. I really like you!” Ladybeetle blanched. “I mean! I mean,” she shouted as she waved her hands in front of her, “I mean I really like working with you! So far. Great team! Haha!”

“Where am I? What’s going on?” a shaky voice behind them questioned. Dog Days had reverted back to an innocent civilian who now sat confused on the sidewalk, taking in the devastation.

“Dude, you were Akumatized!” Panthére explained.

“Do you remember what you were upset about?” Ladybeetle asked, squatting down to be at eye level with him.

The man looked somber. “I’m a dog walker. Today I woke up to an angry text from one of my clients saying that her dog had broken a nail yesterday on our walk and she was firing me.” The man placed his head in his hands, distraught. “And that she would tell all my other clients to fire me too! I love those dogs. They’re the only things that make me happy right now. I couldn’t bear to be without them.”

“So those giant beasts were--” Ladybeetle looked around and spotted the formerly-enormous dogs, now normal-sized and huddled together in fear and confusion. “Oh, poor puppies!”

“My darlings!” the man cried as the dogs spied him and rushed toward him, eagerly licking his face as he pet them. “I’ll take you home, loves.”

“Anyone who loves these dogs this much deserves to be in their lives,” Ladybeetle declared.

“Yeah!” Panthére agreed. “Those dog-snobs can shove it if they think they can fire you! Tell them that you’re now endorsed by the heroes of Paris. If they don’t back down, you can gimme a call anytime and I’ll tell ‘em what’s up!”

“Oh, thank you, Ladybeetle and Panthére!”

“You’re welcome, Monsieur. Good luck.” Ladybeetle turned to Panthére, extending a fist. “Pound it?” 

Panthére responded in kind, bumping her fist with his own. “By the way, LB, it’s cool working with you too.” He shot her a goofy grin. “Anyway, I was thinking we should sit and talk some more after this. I’ve been--” The charcoal-suited boy was interrupted by a beep of Ladybeetle’s earrings.

She slapped a hand to her ear to cover the noise. “Shoot! I’ve gotta go right now. I’m gonna get marked absent!” Ladybeetle looked around her briefly before remembering her last power. “Oh, right! Miraculous Ladybeetle!” She retrieved the bicycle pump she had strapped to her back into the air and the swarm of magical ladybugs rushed through the city, righting everything that Dog Days had set wrong. 

“Wait, LB!” Panthére grabbed her wrist to stop her from leaving. Her heart froze at the sudden contact. “I need to talk to you about superhero stuff! Can you meet tonight?”

Ladybeetle ached to be able to see him again so soon, but she had a standing appointment with the former Ladybug to attend that evening. She frowned apologetically. “I can’t, I’m sorry! I’ve got… stuff to do.”

“What about late tonight? Come on, you’ve got superpowers now, can’t you just sneak out after dark?”

“What? But… but I’d never…” Manon had never been one to sneak out before. The secrets and lies were already piling up in just the few days she had been Ladybeetle, how could Panthére handle the pressure while also pushing the boundaries by sneaking out? Maybe she was holding herself back too much. Her duty outweighed her need for sleep, after all, and she probably wouldn’t be missed, right? “I can try,” she resolved.

“Dope. Just call me when you transform and we’ll figure out where to meet. I’ll be ready. See you later, _mon mignonne_!”

Ladybeetle gave a shaky salute to her partner and cast her yo-yo into the sky to whisk her off away back toward the school. Once she arrived, she was thankful to note that the students had only just begun filing back into the repaired school. Ducking behind the same tree as before, she dropped her transformation, and Manon jogged up to slip into the crowd on their way in.

The clock on the wall in the hallway told her it was now fourth period, so she headed to Madame Bustier’s classroom for Literature.

“Manon, where were you?” Elise screeched when she spotted her friend entering the room.

“Uh!” Manon felt panic rise thickly through her body. “I was with my gym class! Panthére saved me from the giant dog when it came through,” she began with the truth, since that was innocent enough. Elise appeared unsatisfied, so the brunette continued, “when I got back to my teacher, he was all like ‘you stay put right here where I can keep an eye on you.’ So I couldn’t come look for you,” Manon hoped she sounded convincing enough. The silence spread between them. Finally, Elise spoke.

“Ah, D'argencourt is so strict. I’m glad you were safe! Wait, did you say _Panthére_ saved you?!” Elise was incredulous. Luckily, as that part of Manon’s tale was true, she was prepared to give more details.

“Yeah! The dog had me cornered but he scared it off and brought me out to D’argencourt after.”

“What’s the cat like up close?” Elise leaned in, extremely interested. She picked up on the heavy blush that swept across her bestie’s cheeks. “That handsome, huh?” she teased.

“Hey, shut up! I mean… maybe? I mean, uh…” Manon faltered, eventually giving up and hanging her head. “Yeah, he’s super hot.”

Elise cackled. “I knew it! Finally, you’re crushing on someone! I always knew no one at this school was good enough for you, Manon.” 

At that, Manon cast a glance over her shoulder at the rowdy boys in the corner. Chris Lahiffe’s posse sat clumped around Chris’ empty seat. Was he absent that day? Manon couldn’t remember if he had been present that morning. Nonetheless, the sight of the group put a bad taste in her mouth.

“None of _these_ guys, at least. Yikes.” Manon shot a glare at the goons which was returned by Quentin before he rolled his eyes at her and resumed his chatter.

“I’ll be your wingwoman if you ever meet him again.” Elise smiled, slinging an arm around Manon’s shoulder and leading her to their seats. Manon laughed internally, realizing just how soon she would be meeting him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No animals were harmed in the making of this chapter. Anybody have any critiques for my action-writing? I truly do not know what I am doing.
> 
> Next time: we head back to Ladybug to hear the rest of her Hawkmoth fight story, and Krispy tries to write combat between ELEVEN people instead of just three and promptly tires herself out and vows to never do that again.


	10. Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Miraculous heroes of the past are back, and more determined than ever to make this their final battle with Hawkmoth.

“So what do you think, then? Ribbon or no ribbon?”

Manon was pulled from her thoughts, reminded of the conversation that Remy and Elise were having beside her in their last class of the day. How they could talk about everyday things when an Akuma had destroyed their school just a few hours earlier was beyond Manon. Ladybeetle _had_ repaired everything, but it was still jarring enough. The teen’s two best friends were back to normal by lunchtime, eagerly gulping down and complimenting the spare sandwiches from the night before that Manon had brought in to share with them.

“Uh,” Manon faltered, unable to cover for the fact that she hadn’t been listening. She winced. “I’m sorry, for what?”

“For my competition routine! Wouldn’t it look cooler if I was holding ribbons? I know it’s last-minute but--Hey, are you okay? You’ve been all--” Elise splayed her fingers and rotated both hands on either side of her own head, rolling her eyes around as she did so, “--woo woo since this morning. Was it that Akuma?” The genuine look of concern in her brown eyes almost broke Manon’s heart. She gulped.

“I’m okay, honestly. It did shake me up a little. I totally thought I was like, gonna die right then. Maybe I’m just distracted thinking about Panthére.” Once again, Manon had found a speck of truth to grab onto and spin her lie around. It felt slimy to do so, but it helped her sound more believable if she believed parts of it herself.

“Ah, I knew it! You’re so in love you’ve gone ear blind,” Remy jeered.

“You mean deaf?” Elise pointed out.

“Whatever you wanna call it, she’s clearly out of her wits. So, how do we get the four of us on a double date ASAP?” Manon flushed, struggling to find her words briefly.

“Leave me alone! I didn’t make fun of you guys when you were doing your little ‘will they, won’t they’ dance,” she went on the defensive.

“Relax, Manon, I’m not making fun of you! I bet the cat hasn’t had too many offers of undying love yet. We could get you in on the ground floor and build you up from there. What do ya say?” Remy beamed. Manon smiled back at his support.

“Well, if you get his number, I wouldn’t complain if you tossed it my way. Thanks, guys.” She laughed it off, remembering the absurdity of a celebrity crush and how silly she must sound to her friends who had no idea her relationship with the feline superhero.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Just like the previous night, the massage parlor stood dark and empty before her. Manon stepped inside, letting Tikki out of her backpack once more. The late afternoon sun provided more light this time, and she could see the warped, wooden floors as she walked across them to the door at the back of the room.

Once she closed the door behind her, the back parlor fell into utter darkness again. If there were any windows in the room, they must have been boarded up very thoroughly. Tikki provided her pinkish glow to Manon’s squinting eyes.

“Hey, Ladybug! Are you here?” Manon spoke instead of whispering this time.

“Hello again, Manon. Hi, Tikki.” Ladybug revealed her position in the room with her voice. “Excellent work with that Akuma earlier! I didn’t know if you’d make it to our meeting after a morning like that,” she laughed.

“Hey, no Akuma’s gonna get me down!” Manon asserted. “I got this.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Ladybug chimed another laugh. “How were things with your partner today?”

“Oh,” Manon startled, “he’s good. He beat me to the battle by like a mile. Isn’t he my age? How did he get there so fast if he was in school?”

“I mean, I never said he was your age…” Ladybug teased. Manon’s eyes widened at the realization that she had really only assumed that. What if Panthére was like, thirty? Oh, no.

“He’s not, like, some creepy old man, is he?!”

“What do you think?” Ladybug’s smirk was audible.

“Ah,” Manon caught on to the joke. “Very funny. Thanks for the tiny heart attack!” she chided. “Anyway, I felt like we really connected today. I asked him to trust me so I could just _abandon_ him in the middle of a big fight, and he did! And everything worked out! It’s really cool to have someone I barely know feel that way about me.” Her cheeks warmed.

“It sounds like your partnership is blooming perfectly. You’ll have to trust each other if you want to succeed.”

“Actually, I’m even going to see him tonight,” Manon couldn’t help but admit. Ladybeetle eyed her carefully from the darkness.

“I hope you aren’t planning on staying out too late?”

“What, no way…” the girl attempted to sound casual. “It’s just a quick little meet-up type thing. Psh, it’s a school night anyway.”

“If you say so. You’re allowed to make your own decisions. I hope everything goes well at your meet-up type thing.” The retired hero sat down upon a piece of covered furniture again, so Manon did the same.

“So, where did I leave off, then? Oh right, this part is a doozy, so buckle up” Ladybug announced.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

_”I--I can’t…” Chat Noir sputtered in his civilian form. The words were boiling poison, burning through his throat before tumbling out of him. How could he help Hawkmoth? But...how could he not help his mother? There was nothing left. He couldn’t make a choice here. The boy collapsed to his knees, grief and confusion overtaking him like a thick, black fog._

_A whizzing noise sounded beside his ear for a second, but he couldn’t bring himself to look up. The world was too much right now. Suddenly, a new voice in the room startled him._

_“Bye bye, little butterfly,” Ladybug sing-songed. Her face was a mask of confidence as her prince looked up at her across the room, but there was concern hidden there. Ladybug had watched from the window as Chat Noir’s father transformed, leaving Hawkmoth where he had stood. She watched as he bargained with his unmasked son before sending out a black Akuma from his staff when the boy refused._

_“Son, please, we must get the earrings from her!” Hawkmoth cast Chat Noir a pleading look before he went after Ladybug himself. His movements were lightning-fast, his power immense. With a swing of his cane, he knocked Ladybug onto her back. Instantly, he was upon her._

_Ladybug struggled with all her might, resisting as Hawkmoth attempted to pin her arms down to subdue her. He had neglected her legs, so she kicked up from the ground praying to land contact somewhere on his body. She was rewarded when her foot collided with the center of Hawkmoth’s back, dizzying him for a second as he gave a rough cough. It was just enough time for Ladybug to spring to her feet, hooking her yo-yo onto the railing of the bedroom’s upper floor and whisking herself out of Hawkmoth’s reach._

_Once she landed, the pigtailed heroine turned to catch the scene below her. In her haste to protect her Miraculous, she had forgotten there was another villain in the room. Mayura had Chat cornered._

_“Just you wait, Ladybug. I’ll show you the true power of destruction when I merge Chat Noir’s and my Miraculous!” Hawkmoth shouted, grabbing her attention as he flipped open the top of his cane with an oversized, evil grin and stuck a hand inside, rooting around for something. Much like Ladybug’s yo-yo, Hawkmoth’s cane could store things within it._

_“Now!” Ladybug screeched in a panic._

_Instantly, a portal opened up just to Hawkmoth’s left, and seven Miraculous heroes emerged and spread throughout the room. They had the element of surprise on their side once again, but they knew they had faltered and lost that advantage before. They were newly reinvigorated, and more determined than ever. They would not fail this time. After all, they had a new ally at their side._

_“Looking for this?” teased a petite girl with a shock of red hair dressed in blue and white. With her hand outstretched, she gave a tantalizing glimpse of a white ring lying dormant in her gloved palm before she closed her fist over it._

_“H-how?! How did--who are you?” Hawkmoth gawked at the new superheroine, pulling his hand from inside his cane to lunge for the ring. She dodged his reach, tut-tutting._

_“Nuh uh, old dude. This doesn’t belong to you.” She grinned wickedly._

_“Hand over the Miraculous, insolent child!” Mayura called. She swiped at the girl, abandoning the defenseless Chat Noir and leaping past Hawkmoth. With her fan, she sliced through the air in attempt after attempt to best the new hero, but the girl was too agile. Leaping, bounding, stretching, evading, she moved with a gymnastic ease and a competitive glare in her eye._

_“The name’s Bunnyx, actually. Or so I’ve been told.” The girl flicked her eyes up to Ladybug who continued to watch from overhead and sent a smile back her way._

_“Great work, Bunnyx.” Ladybug swung down from her perch and landed an elbow jab into Hawkmoth’s side, knocking him out of her path. “I had a feeling this was the right time to finally hand out my secret weapon.”_

_Bunnyx turned to where the blonde boy watched from the floor, mesmerized and unable to keep up with what had all happened in the last thirty seconds. “Hey, Kitty, catch!” She tossed the dormant ring through the air now that no villains stood between her and its owner. Surging forward in an instant, Chat Noir caught the ring with both hands to ensure he didn’t miss before eagerly slipping it on. Plagg emerged from the ring shouting._

_“You despicable old man! Whoever you are, you are ONE sick puppy, and I’m gonna mess you up if you think you have a chance of getting Ladybu--” Plagg looked around, noticing the multitude of heroes surrounding him rather than the one villain he’d been expecting. From where he hovered in the air, he slowly spun to face his charge behind him. As he made eye contact, his jaw fell open. “Oh, you stupid Kitten, I’m so glad you’re here!”_

_“No time for platitudes, Plagg! Claws out!” The boy finally smiled as he felt the energy of destruction rush through his body. He had a lot to deal with once this was all over, but he had to be present to finish this first. Chat Noir joined the battle, tackling Mayura to the ground before she could steel herself against him._

_“This will not stop me! I know who you all are! And you are just children. I can do this all day, while some of you have less than five minutes before you are powerless!” Hawkmoth snagged Ladybug around the neck in a chokehold, lifting her easily off the ground as Pegasus’ and Bunnyx’s Miraculouses both beeped._

_Mayura struggled against Chat Noir’s grasp as he held her to the ground. Though his hold was firm, she managed to pull a single feather from the fan she clutched and let it flutter out behind her, unbeknownst to her captor. The black feather floated innocently over to where Hawkmoth held Ladybug. With his free hand, he swung his cane toward it and the two items fused. A navy blue mask outline formed around Mayura’s eyes._

_“No!” Chat Noir cried. Mayura used his distraction to slip out from beneath him, standing at her full height and looking down upon him. With a hop, she kicked him across the face as he still lay on the floor. Chat Noir flew into a foosball table, splintering the wood as he landed harshly. Carapace ran over to his best friend, helping him to his feet. They watched as an enormous, lavender moth sentimonster materialized in the center of his bedroom. Great, yet another enemy to face. At least the heroes still had them outnumbered._

_“Let her go!” Chat Noir raged, turning on his supervillain father and grabbing the arm around Ladybug’s throat to pry it off. With his grip loosened, Ladybug just managed to slip out and onto the ground, rasping for breath. Chat Noir held Hawkmoth off as she composed herself before standing to address the heroes._

_“We can still prevail! We’re stronger together. Viperion and King Monkey, activate your powers!” Ladybug pointed as she gave orders, dodging swipes from Hawkmoth as Chat Noir turned on Mayura. “Queen Bee, get your venom ready! Rena, come here! Let’s do this.” The group lit up, listening to their fearless leader intently. As Rena Rouge sprinted toward Ladybug, Viperion pulled back the snake head on his bracelet while King Monkey snagged his staff from his back. Queen Bee used her top to pull herself up onto the balcony on the second floor before standing at the ready._

_“Second Chance!”_

_“Uproar!”_

_“Venom!”_

_Ladybug ducked into a squat with her arms behind her as Pegasus ran in and held off Hawkmoth for the moment. Rena Rouge took advantage of the spotted hero’s position and leapt onto her back. As her feet made contact, Ladybug stood, acting as a springboard for Rena who twisted through the air, grabbed onto Mayura’s arm, flipped the villainess over her shoulder, and slammed her onto the floor. Chat Noir and Carapace cornered Mayura then, flanking her on her left and right while Rena got behind her._

_The moth sentimonster began to flap its great wings, blowing a mighty gust of wind that swept up Ryuuko and King Monkey. As her feet left the floor, Ryuuko called for her power._

_“Wind Dragon!” Instantly, she was transformed into air. With great effort, she formed her own gust of wind and pushed back against the incoming blast to prevent King Monkey from being blown away. As she did this, particles of her air touched the plush frog that King Monkey held, and she transformed back into Ryuuko. “Huh--What?” The strong wind knocked her into King Monkey and carried them both through the large glass windows behind them. As shattered glass rained down, Viperion pulled back the snake head on his bracelet._

_“Second Chance!”_

_Time rewound itself, and once more Rena Rouge vaulted off Ladybug to attack Mayura. As the sentimonster began to flap its wings right on queue, Viperion shouted for Ryuuko and King Monkey to grab onto something and charged after the moth, punching it in the back of its head. The wind ceased, and Ryuuko and King Monkey let go of the pillar they had braced themselves with. King Monkey joined Pegasus to help Ladybug meet Hawkmoth blow for blow, all dodging the swings of his cane as if they operated as one. Ryuuko rushed to join those boxing in Mayura._

_Like a caged animal, Mayura glared at the heroes surrounding her, her lip curling into something akin to a snarl. Suddenly, the woman adeptly dropped backward into a bridge before kicking up her legs and grabbing Rena Rouge around the waist with them. She slammed her legs down again, taking the fox hero with her and causing the girl to land on her head. Chat Noir, Carapace, and Ryuuko closed in, but Mayura swiped furiously with her fan as she rose to her feet again, and none of them could get close enough to protect Rena Rouge before Mayura snatched up her Miraculous._

_Gasping, Carapace put his all into slamming through Mayura’s attacks. Tears of rage gathered and stung at the corners of his eyes. He managed to body-slam the villainess with his shield, pressing her into the wall as he screamed into her face._

_“You monster!”_

_An evil grin washed over Mayura’s face as she stood nose-to-nose with the turtle hero. Her eyes were directed to something just behind him, and Carapace instantly turned to see that Mayura had recalled the Amuk from Hawkmoth’s staff. The giant moth disappeared, and the black feather now hung harmlessly in the air, as if waiting for its next victim._

_“Perhaps this sentimonster is not the right choice for our current battlefield,” the older Miraculous wielder mused, narrowing her eyes at the Turtle._

_The Butterfly wielder broke off from the heroes overwhelming him and grabbed a pen off the desk nearby, catching the Amuk inside of it. A dark mask appeared over Mayura’s eyes once more, and she took advantage of Carapace’s distraction to quickly scale the nearby rock wall and leap onto the balcony above them. Hawkmoth pulled back his arm and whipped the pen to Mayura, who deftly caught it, now in control of the new sentimonster she hoped would have better odds of taking down the heroes in the enclosed space than the giant moth had._

_Carapace roared as she escaped him. Chat Noir and Ryuuko tended to Carapace’s fallen girlfriend, helping her stand. She was still conscious, but a noticeable bump was forming at the top of her forehead where she had struck the ground. Now that she was powerless, she needed to be protected. Ryuuko grabbed Carapace’s arm to steady him._

_“I will look after her. Save your shield,” Ryuuko soothed, stepping toward the dizzy girl and placing a hand on her back. Carapace grimaced, knowing he needed to continue the fight as the main defensive hero in the group. It was a great disadvantage to have two heroes now sitting out of this battle. He looked up to spy Mayura being cornered once more, this time by Queen Bee._

_In an instant, a sentimonster formed between Queen Bee and Mayura. The sentimonster looked disarmingly ordinary, just a plain-looking boy about the same age as the heroes were. He looked so… human. Mayura looked at the pendant in her hand, contemplating. The months she had spent using the Peacock before they had repaired it had left her too weak to combine the Fox with her own Miraculous. Mayura decided to try something new._

_“My sentimonster, come to me and take up this Miraculous!” Gasps sounded around the room as all eyes fell on Mayura, including Hawkmoth’s. Slipping the fox pendant over the obedient sentimonster’s head, Mayura was pleasantly shocked to see the Kwami emerge as the Miraculous became active. The heroes couldn’t believe their eyes as they watched a sentimonster wield a Miraculous._

_“No!” Ladybug desperately shouted, becoming distracted enough that Hawkmoth was able to land a punch to the side of her head. The girl shook it off, charging back to retaliate._

_“Greetings, Tod--” Trixx said as he appeared, unaware of the battle roiling in the room. He was cut off rapidly by Mayura’s next command._

_“Transform, my sentimonster!”_

_“Trixx, let’s pounce!” The sentimonster opened its mouth and spoke the words of the transformation, having pulled them from Mayura’s subconscious. The boy was instantly overtaken by a costume resembling Rena Rouge’s. The Miraculous attempted to take the sentimonster’s own true desires to create the outfit, but came up short, as he had none._

_“Yes!” Hawkmoth cheered. “Yes, yes! Brilliant work, Mayura!” He returned to taking on Ladybug and the others with renewed confidence._

_Queen Bee spun to kick the sentimonster blocking her from the Peacock wielder, but he dodged backwards as Mayura twirled the Amukatized pen in her hands, cackling with satisfaction._

_“Cast your illusion!” Mayura commanded._

_Four notes played from the flute as the sentimonster dodged more of Queen Bee’s onslaught._

_“Mirage!” he shouted as he flung the flute toward Mayura. Immediately, the balcony filled with copies of the royal blue villainess, all grinning wickedly from behind their splayed fans. The sentimonster continued to go toe to toe with Queen Bee as the Mayura copies spread around the room._

_The heroes that weren’t already busy with Hawkmoth sprung to action, throwing anything they could at the copies to make them disappear into clouds of smoke. Several were eliminated quickly, but they still couldn’t pinpoint which one was the real Mayura. Ryuuko spotted one creeping close to her as she continued to guard the detransformed Rena in a corner. Acting quickly, Ryuuko whipped out her sword and swung for Mayura, surprised when the villainess failed to disappear at the contact._

_Chat Noir immediately called for his power when he saw that this Mayura was the real deal. “Cataclysm!” he ran forward and slapped his charged hand to the ground behind Mayura, causing it to shake and collapse beneath her feet. Shouting out, she slipped into the hole he had created, trapped up to her chest, unable to wiggle free with arms pinned to her sides._

_Queen Bee abandoned her fight with the Miraculous-wearing sentimonster on the room’s upper level and jumped triumphantly down upon the felled villainess, landing her top’s stinger into Mayura’s back with a satisfying smack. Flipping backwards over the couch and leaping to the balcony, Viperion took Queen Bee’s place to hold off the sentimonster as its creator was subdued._

_“No!” Mayura screamed, but it was too late. Instantly, she was paralyzed. King Monkey reached her, and she was powerless to stop him as he outstretched his frog plushie and tapped her with it. The sentimonster disintegrated as King Monkey’s power deactivated Mayura’s, dropping the Fox pendant harmlessly to the floor up on the balcony. Chat growled at the unmoving Mayura and went to retrieve the pendant before Bunnyx jumped in and snatched the Peacock brooch from her lapel. The costume fell, and Mayura’s civilian form was left in her place, still paralyzed._

_“ _I’ll_ be taking that!” Bunnyx cheered. “Hey, LB, two baddies down, one to go!”_

_Ladybug grinned. “Let’s not get overconfident, though. I bet we could still use a Lucky Charm!” she called for her power, and a fortune cookie fell into her hands. “Huh,” she murmured. While Pegasus held off Hawkmoth, she cracked the cookie in half and pulled out the slip of paper inside. On it was nothing but a large symbol in red ink that Ladybug immediately recognized, but was confused by. She opened her yo-yo and tucked the fortune inside._

_Every hero then surrounded Hawkmoth at once. He could feel his odds slipping, so he steeled himself._

_“Enough of this!” With a primal roar, Hawkmoth gripped the head of his cane and swung it outward, spinning in a circle. He plowed through the heroes, sending them all flying in various directions as they toppled into each other. Ladybug landed closest to him, and he immediately stomped his foot onto her ribs with as much force as he had within him. Ladybug gave out a blood-curdling shriek of pain as a crack rang through the enormous room. Hawkmoth descended upon her and ripped off one of her earrings before Carapace slammed into Hawkmoth’s chest with his shoulder._

_As the villain stumbled back a few feet, he tripped over Bunnyx who was trying to stand up herself and the earring slipped from his hand. Carapace jumped forward to retrieve the earring and returned it to Ladybug, who was already halfway detransformed, before he cast his power, “Shell-ter!” A glowing, green, impenetrable shield formed around the injured Ladybug and him as she grunted in pain and replaced her earring, restoring her transformation._

_Bunnyx made a grab for Hawkmoth’s pin, but he managed to cover it with his hand in time and kneed her in the chest as she closed in. The remaining heroes had gotten to their feet, and Hawkmoth set about mowing them down once more. At this point, with Mayura defeated, his only option was to make a break for an exit._

_With kicks, cane swings, punches, elbow jabs, and headbutts, heroes went flying all over again. Hawkmoth made a warpath for the door, attempting to flee again._

_“Stay back,” Ryuuko said to the unarmed Rena behind her. Sprinting to the center of the room, the Dragon wielder called out, “Lightning Dragon!”_

_The lights in the room fizzled and went dark as she disappeared with a burst of white. Bars slammed down over the doors and windows. Ladybug cheered through her pain at the sight of Ryuuko using the third dragon power she had never before called upon. With it, she had the ability to shock anyone she chose and cause electrical systems to go haywire. Ryuuko had blown out the electricity, causing the house’s security system to switch to generator power and lock them in. It was over. Hawkmoth had nowhere to run, and he couldn’t hold them off forever._

_The quickly fading Butterfly wielder swung his cane at an approaching Viperion, who managed at last to catch the cane in the strings of his lyre and wrend it from Hawkmoth’s clutches. Now that he was disarmed, he could no longer bat them away as they descended upon him. Queen Bee held one arm while Pegasus held the other and King Monkey and Viperion pinned down his legs. The man fought, he spit, he screamed, he cursed, but at last, Chat Noir’s hand touched the Butterfly Pin on his father’s chest._

_“It’s all over, Father.” Chat tugged the pin from Hawkmoth’s collar, and his transformation bubbled away, leaving behind a broken, defeated man. “I will never, ever join you,” Chat Noir spat. The heroes surrounding him nodded to him, unsure of what to do now. They had just won a years-long battle. They had bested the man who had terrorized Paris since their first year of high school. Hawkmoth was defeated._

_Chat Noir acted first, forsaking the man lying before him and running to his Lady’s side. Carapace dropped his shield to allow him in as he clutched at her hand. “My Lady! Are you alright?” His eyes were searching hers. He barked out the code for the security system to Carapace so the Turtle wielder could run over to the pad by the door and key it in, causing the bars to retreat from the windows and door._

_“I’ll be okay, Chaton,” Ladybug spoke, putting on a brave face though her voice sounded weaker than she had hoped. “That really hurt,” she admitted, “but the suit took most of the force.”_

_“Still, we need to get you and Rena to a hospital right away! Pegasus,” Chat Noir called for the Horse wielder’s attention. “You’ll have to detransform and then transform again, because I need you to use Voyage again to take these two somewhere they can’t get out.”_

_“I know where they have to go,” Ladybug spoke with some effort, looking down at the Lucky Charm in her hands with realization. Chat Noir returned his attention to her instantly, pressing a gloved hand to her cheek as she elaborated, “The Lucky Charm, it’s the symbol of the Guardians. Take them to the temple in Tibet. I have the address in my phone. Tell the monks that Ladybug sent you, and they need to lock up Hawkmoth and Mayura for me until I can get there myself. Tikki, spots off.”_

_Pink magic washed over her, and Ladybug gave a low groan as the weight of her pain fell on her civilian form. Hawkmoth and Mayura gasped, recognizing Ladybug’s identity beneath the spotted mask with rage and defeat. Weakly, the pigtailed girl propped herself up on her elbows and reached into her purse to retrieve her phone. She handed it over to Pegasus once she had the address pulled up, and he gave a firm nod. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said to Chat Noir._

_Chat Noir lifted the love of his life off the floor as gingerly as he could. Carapace helped Rena to her feet and walked her over to join Chat as he jumped to the windowsill and pushed the window open for them. Chat stopped. Turning around, he called out, “Thank you, Bunnyx. I’m trusting you can keep my secret. I owe you everything for getting this ring back.”_

_“It was nothing, Catboy! Ladybug told me exactly when to go back to, right after you guys all ran out of the first battle. From there, I just watched where Hawkie put the ring and snagged it from him while he was distracted. You were right. Ladybug always has a plan.” Bunnyx beamed, winking. “I came back to the present and told her where you would be, and we all met here to get the drop on them. And hey, you can look forward to seeing me again. LB said I could keep this Miraculous and start learning about time travel! Totally awesome!”_

_Chat Noir laughed and looked down at his detransformed Lady in his arms, who gave a forced smile up at him through her pain. “Thank you, too, then, My Lady.”_

_“Always, My Prince,” she replied, and he sprung out the window, taking to the rooftops to carry Ladybug to the hospital with Carapace and Rena close behind._

. . . . . . . .

Manon looked quickly to her phone for the time as the story came to a close. She was shocked to find another evening had disappeared as she sat to listen to the fascinating tale. The girl had myriad questions, each poised to explode from her tongue if she weren’t holding herself back. She still had to meet with Panthére tonight, and if she was going to be able to stay awake for said meeting, she needed to take quite a power nap beforehand.

“Ladybug,” she began, trying to keep her tone formal to hide the fact that she was on the verge of geeking out, “thank you for sharing all of that information with me. I have so, _so_ many questions to ask you, but I think I… have to go…” She scrunched her face up, disgruntled at that fact.

“I understand,” Ladybug replied coolly. The former hero couldn’t help the mixture of slight disappointment and relief that she felt that their meeting was over for the night. Recounting the story from her past had made Ladybug reminisce quite a bit, but it was also a difficult balancing act to keep from revealing the identities of herself or any of the other heroes. If Manon stayed to ask questions, Ladybug would have to be extremely thoughtful to not give too much away as she answered them.

“Thanks, Ladybug. I wish I could stay, but I’m--” the girl cut herself off as she was overwhelmed with a yawn. “Ha, I’m super tired. I’m gonna write down all of my questions, though, so I can ask you next time, okay?”

“Do you think you’ll still be able to meet with Panthére tonight?” It was getting a bit late. 

“I’m gonna try! I might just… need to take a nap first.” The pressure of her new duties and reality was really starting to get to the poor girl. Ladybug felt for her, for she had been exactly in her shoes before, and Manon was having to take on even more than she had in a shorter time period. She stood.

“Enjoy that nap, then, kiddo. You deserve it. I’ll send you another note when we can meet again, okay? Thank you for... being you.”

A single tear rolled down Manon’s cheek as the comment warmed her heart. Her smile brimmed with fear of the future, but if Ladybug believed in her, then maybe she could still believe in herself. She gave a nod to the approximate location in the darkness that she assumed Ladybug to be, then turned and headed out the door into the brisk evening. Once Manon got home, she was definitely going to take that nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was kinda long compared to my other ones, but only by a few pages. Wow, this took so long to get right. ELEVEN people fighting in one teenage boy's giant bedroom. I die. I guess at one point there were even twelve people. Hopefully, this was even remotely coherent. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Next update: the late-night meeting of Panthere and Ladybeetle to discuss where they stand.
> 
> Comments always appreciated


	11. Love Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two teen heroes meet up under cover of night to discuss life and what they've learned from their secretive mentors.

_”Don’t you stop, dancing to the music!”_

The sound of an old Clara Nightingale song rang out through the room as Manon sat up with a jolt. She had been asleep for about an hour, desperately clinging to whatever rest she could get before the alarm she had set woke Manon for her illicit meeting with her partner under cover of night.

“Tikki, are you ready?”

The kwami nodded, rising from where she had curled up on Manon’s pillow. She gave a yawn and a stretch, shaking off her own fatigue. “Sure thing, Manon. Good luck tonight!”

“Thanks, Tikki,” Manon smiled through her exhaustion, cupping her hand around the small red sprite and nuzzling her to her cheek. Being Ladybeetle had taken its toll on Manon already, but she couldn’t deny that Tikki made her civilian life better just with her presence. She was a great friend to have on her side.

“Alright, here I… go…” Manon hesitated before deciding to push through. “Tikki, Spots on!” The now-super girl strode over to her door, locking it so that her mother couldn’t come check on her while she was gone. She went to the window next, unlocking it and sliding it open with ease. The chilly night air rushed in through the opening, bristling Ladybeetle with anticipation to do something she considered so bad. She closed her eyes, climbed onto the windowsill, and ventured a peek down. Her heart lurched. She really was quite high up, wasn’t she? Why did the height only bother her right now, if it never seemed to matter when she was sprinting across Paris rooftops as she had just earlier that day? Ladybeetle gulped.

Casting out her yo-yo, she hooked onto a metal balcony across the street and took the leap of faith. Her heart thundered in her ears as she rapidly approached the pavement below before the string pulled taut and swung her forward. At the peak of her arc, the teen tucked into a ball and spun, landing neatly on the lip of a flat cement rooftop. Phew. It was over, she had sneaked out.

With a flick of her wrist, Ladybeetle flipped open her bug-phone and pressed her thumb on Panthére’s picture on the screen. How did this thing already have a picture of him? Did he upload it himself, or was it just more magic? Ladybeetle wondered if there was a similar picture of her in Panthére’s phone. The call rang out a handful of times before Panthére picked up, beginning a video chat.

“Yo, _mon mignonne,_ what’re you doin’ out at this hour?” Panthére waggled his eyebrows on the screen. Right on queue, Ladybeetle blushed.

“I’ve got a date with some doofus,” she confidently replied to cover her discomfort.

“Ooh, dude sounds hot,” he teased back. 

Inspired by him playing along, Ladybeetle spoke without thinking, “Yeah, he is,” she mused. The line went silent as Panthére quickly averted his eyes, uncomfortable. Ladybeetle scrambled, her face rapidly heating. “SO WHERE SHOULD WE MEET?” Ah, that was probably a bit much, you giant idiot, she thought.

Panthére gave an awkward cough. “Uh, yeah, I was thinkin’ we could just go to the Eiffel Tower. Great views, plus it’s private, so nobody’ll _bug_ us. Sound good?”

Ladybeetle avoided eye contact with her communicator. “Appasutely! I mean, absolutely! I’ll be there really cute, SHIT. SOON. BYE.” She slammed the bug-phone shut as fast as she could, hoping she could possibly cut herself off before Panthére heard her. She needed to get ahold of herself. It had been a while since she had a crush, and she had never really had the opportunity to be so close to said crush as often as she now did. It made it very difficult to think straight.

The girl took off for the Eiffel Tower, pausing briefly as she swung past a skyscraper with particularly reflective windows to admire her superhero costume once more. It really did flatter her well. Ladybeetle enjoyed the twisted side ponytail she sported. It added a fun, very Manon touch to her persona, though it meant Manon could probably no longer wear a side ponytail as a civilian in case someone got suspicious. The shade of red in her suit complimented her deep skin tone quite nicely, and the spots gave contrast to make Ladybeetle look more dynamic in motion. She looked _good,_ and she felt comfortable in her own skin. Smiling broadly, she continued on her way.

Upon her arrival, Panthére was already at the tower, sitting in wait with his legs dangling idly off a platform. Ladybeetle lighted down beside him and sat herself a few good feet away, hoping to avoid the extra nervousness that closeness would definitely spark within her.

“Hey, LB,” Panthére greeted.

“Good evening,” she responded politely. Alright, keep cool, she could do this. “So, what’s up then?”

“I just figured we should do some more talking, ya know? I wanted to tell you… I’ve been meeting up with Chat Noir the past couple nights.” Panthére felt guilty for not having told his partner this sooner. Ladybeetle’s eyes briefly bulged in surprise.

“You’re kidding! I guess that makes sense, because Ladybug reached out to me, too! I just met with her again tonight.” Panthére visibly relaxed, relieved that she wasn’t angry with him.

“Yo, that’s dope! Chat Noir wouldn’t tell me who he was, though. Did you get anything out of the old bug?” he questioned.

“Nah, she says I’m not ‘ready’ to know yet,” Ladybeetle grumped, crossing her arms and staring out across the city. Wow, Paris was already beautiful from her bedroom window, but up there, it shined like the stars. Ladybeetle was mesmerized, feeling her heart lift with every second that she watched the dancing lights. They dazzled, enrapturing her. She couldn’t believe how high up she was, how indescribable it felt to be able to do this. Suddenly, she became aware that her partner had been speaking.

“...just tell us, right?” Panthére looked over at Ladybeetle as he realized she wasn’t listening before he nudged her cautiously. He didn’t want to startle her off the top of the Eiffel Tower, but she sure seemed distracted. She jolted, but thankfully kept her balance where she sat.

“Sorry! It’s just, it’s so beautiful up here. I can’t believe we get to do this. It’s like… it’s like this is all I want to do, forever, ya know? Sorry, I probably sound stupid, just babbling,” the spotted hero floundered, attempting to just stop talking finally. Panthére chuckled.

“Nah, nah, girl. Don’t trip, I totally get it. Stuff seems so… small from here. I mean, we’re freaking superheroes with magic powers. We’re sittin’ up here, looking at the famous City of Lights from a view nobody else gets. And we still gotta go to school and pretend any of that matters? It’s like… I can’t describe it, but do you feel me?” He looked to her for her response.

“Yes, totally! That’s exactly what I was thinking. I--wait, I mean… I still think school matters…” Ladybeetle grew concerned.

“I guess,” Panthére sighed, looking up at the stars now, perplexed. “It feels so pointless to go and be worried about all the dumb high school crap people try to throw at you.”

“Is that why you skipped school yesterday?” Ladybeetle guessed.

Caught off guard, Panthére nearly lost his balance as his head snapped toward her. “How did--what? I didn’t… uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck distractedly, coming up short.

“I knew it! There was no way you could have beaten me to that Akuma by that much time if you had been in school like me. Panthére! We’re just kids! We still have to go to school,” Ladybeetle admonished, trying not to lay it on too thick through her incredulity.

“Listen, Bug, I don’t--” the boy shook his head and took a deep breath, urging himself to not get defensive immediately. “I dunno. You’re probably right, though.” He sighed, facing the guilt he had been ignoring about playing hooky. “I don’t _love_ school. It’s so boring! They don’t teach you anything you actually need for the real world, but being a hero does! I’m gettin’ my knowledge on the street. What’s wrong with that?”

“I guess they don’t really teach us how to negotiate with an Akuma or track down a supervillain, but it’s still important! It teaches us how to think for ourselves and solve problems. We might get to practice that as heroes, but we _learn_ it in school. Plus, once you get your diploma, it opens up a whole new world of opportunities! Even if you don’t want to go to university, there’s tons of options for whatever it is you like to do.”

Panthére held up his hands to cease her lecture. “Alright, alright. I probably won’t skip again. I just wanted to give it a try. Felt kinda cool to just be walkin’ down the street while everyone I know was sittin’ in a classroom bored as hell. Damn, _mignonne,_ you don’t mess around, do you?”

She grinned. “Nope! I have nothing to gain from not telling people how I feel, that’s what I always say.” Briefly, Ladybeetle realized that meant she should be open and honest with Panthére about her crush on him. The thought made her throat tighten aggressively, so she decided that her policy didn’t have to apply to romance, right? She didn’t even want to open the can of worms that was her hiding her identity from everyone she knew. Oh boy, her life philosophy was suddenly failing her quite a bit.

The pair were silent a moment, and Ladybeetle knew they still had plenty to discuss. She prompted him to return to their previous topic from before she shot them off on a tangent. 

“You know, it _is_ nice to have somebody to go through this with me. It’s so scary, and new, and of course I can’t tell my friends about it, or my mom. I probably couldn’t even explain it to them if I tried because there just _aren’t_ words,” she was relieved as the pent-up words tumbled out of her. Panthére sat up straighter, intrigued again.

“Dude, same! That’s kinda why I wanted to meet up again. There’s no way I could tell my bros about this, either. They’d all make fun of me for giving a shit about something. It’s embarrassing.”

“Your friends would really bully you for caring about stuff, even if that stuff was saving innocent people?” Concern overtook Ladybeetle’s eyes as she measured up her partner carefully.

“They’re not so bad…” Panthére mumbled, breaking eye contact and looking off at the city again. Defensiveness crept toward the surface once more. “I swear, they’re cool guys, it’s just…. They say anybody who cares too much about somethin’ is a loser, and not caring about anything makes you cool.”

“I think caring about things makes you cool,” Ladybeetle declared, incredulous that someone could live the way he was describing. “What about your passions? Don’t you get to talk about those with your friends? Don’t you feel so… restricted that way?”

“Psh, I don’t really have any passions,” the boy replied introspectively. “I’m just me, ain’t nothing else to it.”

“That’s just stupid.” Ladybeetle stood suddenly, glaring down at her partner. She was so disappointed in him, she was beginning to be brought down as well. How could anybody live like that, not being themselves around the friends they care about most? Panthére looked up at her, surprised by her bluntness.

“Whatever, you don’t know me, Beetle,” he spat, crossing his arms and turning away. “It’s better than having no friends at all.” Wow, he hadn’t meant that last part to sound so… sad. Ladybeetle took notice of the tone instantly, and felt herself soften. This poor boy. He was already feeling bored with his routine of going to school, and the friends he had there apparently weren’t very supportive. Attempting to resist lecturing him once more, she spent a few beats thinking patiently before responding.

“I’m sorry, Panthére. I don’t mean to judge, it’s just… I know I couldn’t be happy if I was being restricted like that. It feels so good and freeing to talk about the things I love with the people I love.” She really was lucky that she got to be her true self with not only her best friends, but also her amazing mom. “I get that, like, traditionally, dudes aren’t allowed to express themselves as freely as girls are, but I think that’s bull! If you love something, you should be allowed to scream it to the heavens no matter who you are.” Punctuating her statement with a huff, Ladybeetle reached out to touch the red-haired boy’s shoulder. Surprisingly, the contact didn’t make her quite so nervous anymore, and Panthére turned back to face her again.

“Well, I…” Panthére hesitated, his cool demeanor slipping further. “Thanks, _mon mignonne,_ it’s nice to hear that from somebody for once.” He pulled a knee up to rest his arm on it, and Ladybeetle dropped her hand from his shoulder before boldly scooting just an inch closer and sitting again. The kid looked like it nearly caused him pain to admit that it felt good to be reassured of something.

“What do you love?” Ladybeetle asked him, infinitely curious.

“I don’t know,” the feline boy answered honestly, “I never get the chance to find out.” 

Ladybeetle’s heart clenched up. The look her partner now wore on his face was one of deep sorrow, longing for something he had never really felt before. She wanted more than anything to be able to help him, but desperately feared coming on too strong.

“That sounds really awful,” she began, “But, if you ever start to think you might like something, you should call me, and I’ll listen to you talk about it all day long. Nobody should be without passion, in my professional opinion.”

Panthére smiled at that, perking up slightly. “I just might take you up on that sometime, LB.” He scrutinized his partner. “You remind me of this girl I know. She’s so in your face with her whole deal, it’s kinda annoying.” At Ladybeetle’s slightly offended expression, Panthere held up his hands. “Shit, I mean, like… she just does whatever she feels like, and people respect it. It’s annoying because I’m… jealous or whatever. If I did half the shit she does, I’d be a laughing stock.” The black cat cast his gaze away, his costume ears pressed against his head and his face heating with embarrassment. 

“Shoot,” he suddenly realized, “I totally forgot, we were gonna rap about Chat Noir.”

Oh, right. Ladybeetle slapped a hand to her forehead then leaned back on her palms to look at the sky overhead. “Right. I can tell you about Ladybug, too! You go first.”

Panthere relaxed some, as discussing events was much more natural to him than thoughts or feelings, and he was eager to change the subject. “Okay. So first of all, dude stuck a note to my headphones somehow, even though they were inside my backpack. He even got some weird, wet cheese in my bag, too! Note said to meet him at some warehouse in the industrial district late at night. I was like, oh god, I’m gonna get kidnapped.”

Ladybeetle snorted. “You’re right! I didn’t even think of that when I got my note. I was so sure everything would be fine. I think I just wanted to meet Ladybug so bad,” she laughed, as did Panthére.

“Anyway, if you couldn’t tell, I didn’t get kidnapped. I showed up and he was there hidin’ in the dark like a serial killer, and he knew my name, like my regular name. Wouldn’t come into the light so I could see him, but he let my kwami come over to him and eat some more stinky, wet cheese,” he paused, “Wait, by the way, what does yours eat?”

“Oh, er, chocolate chip cookies?” Ladybeetle replied sheepishly, avoiding eye contact.

Panthére groaned, low and long, dramatically flopping onto his back on the platform and closing his eyes.

“God, I bet yours is nice, too. Mine is just a flying sassy stomach who doesn’t know when to shut up. He almost blew my cover at school when he heard someone talk about cheese, because he’s pissed that I tried to give him that American canned spray-cheese stuff.” 

Ladybeetle couldn’t help the cackling that wracked her body at that. She crumbled, lying down on her back as well, nearly in tears. “I’m so sorry, dude! That sucks!” she soothed between laughs, “You should ask Chat Noir if he can just give you cheese for him. Or, if you want, I know a good market across town with a great selection,” she turned her head to face him, boldly winking as he met her eyes. 

Their proximity was not lost on them. They had somehow scooted even closer while talking, and now that they were both on their backs, facing one another, the heat passing between them was making Ladybeetle dizzy. She was sure her face was giving her every thought away as her eyes, unbidden, flicked down to his lips for a millisecond. She had never kissed anyone before, and it was more than on her mind. However, it sure seemed too soon to be considering such things with a guy she’s known for less than a week, not to mention a guy she’d spent half of this meeting lecturing about his life choices.

“LB, I gotta say something. _Please_ don’t hate me,” Panthére spoke, shattering the tension that was beginning to make Ladybeetle’s head buzz. The scent of her partner had reached her, cocooning her in warm sandalwood and leather and honey. She could almost feel his breath across her face, resisting the urge to move closer, since Panthére had made no move to. His tone suggested bad news, and Ladybeetle’s heart rose into her throat as she prepared herself.

“I don’t… see you that way. Like, dating or whatever…” His eyes searched hers as he reluctantly said the words.

It hurt. Oh, it hurt her. Ladybeetle snapped up into a sitting position once again, turning her face away instantly to hide her mortified expression. She had made herself so easy to read that Panthére had felt the need to reject her. A wave of nausea passed over her as anxiety set in. It felt like everything was ruined. The silence stretched on for seconds, but it seemed like minutes to Ladybeetle as she finally realized it was her turn to speak. Clenching her eyes shut, she opened her mouth and made a few noncommittal noises before finding any words.

“Th-that’s cool, that’s fine! We barely know each other, why would you be into me already, like, that would be so weird, haha! That’s so totally fine,” she croaked. It took every ounce of strength she had to prevent her voice from sounding like she was crying, but she still didn’t sound very ‘fine.’

“Hey, I’m so sorry,” Panthére placed a hand on her shoulder, and it felt like Ladybeetle had been electrocuted for a split second. She recoiled from his touch, her shoulder burning where his hand had been as he sighed and pulled his hand back. “Please, LB. I like you, you’re so nice,” he blushed profusely, trying his hardest to put together words to communicate his emotions, an utterly foreign thing to him. “God, I’m wrecking this, right? Please, listen…”

Ladybeetle wiped at a tear that was threatening to escape her eye, took an enormous breath through her nose, and turned to face Panthére, though her eyes were still cast down. “I… I can’t. I have to--God, I have to get some air,” Suddenly, Ladybeetle lurched to her feet, desperately looking for her exit.

“Air? We’re outside! I’m serious, you’re a cool girl, it’s just… I don’t know, you’ve been so nice to me, and I’m… God, this sounds so stupid!” He shouted the last word, smacking both hands over his face and groaning. Dragging his hands down his cheeks, he moaned and dared to glance over to his partner. “LB, please, wait, I--” 

Without thinking, he reached out and latched onto her wrist. Her eyes snapped down to him, then to her wrist, and he let her go, though his look was still pleading. Ladybeetle tried as hard as she could, but she couldn’t find any words that she wanted to say more than she just wanted to get away from him. She needed to leave, or she was going to fall apart from disappointment and sheer, pure humiliation. “I’ll see you for the next Akuma, right? Okay, have a good night. Bye.”

Hooking onto a lower beam, the girl leapt off the tower and dropped herself down onto the pavement before she took off running for home.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The following morning, Manon woke with swollen eyes and fear rattling in her chest. Tikki had stroked her back as she cried the previous night, whispering soothing words in her ear until the girl fell asleep, still exhausted. Embarrassment set in once more, and Manon moaned as she slowly sat up to face her Kwami already floating before her.

“Tikki, I’m such a loser,” she groaned. Picking up her pillow, she buried her face within it as Tikki rushed in to pat the back of her charge’s head.

“No, you aren’t. I’m sorry, I know rejection hurts, but wouldn’t you rather know now than waste your time pining after him?”

Another tear escaped Manon’s eye. “It’s so embarrassing! He must think I’m a total stalker. I mean, I’ve known the kid three days and I’m so obviously into him that he rejects me without me even saying anything first? This _SUCKS_!” she spoke through the pillow, pressing her face in farther and farther with each sentence. Tikki frowned.

“I don’t think so, Manon. It seemed like he really didn’t want to tell you how he felt, right? That must mean he cares about you! He just doesn’t see you in a romantic way. You can still be his friend,” the little bug offered.

Manon raised her head from the pillow finally, looking at Tikki with glossy eyes and a runny nose. “I… I guess. You don’t think he thinks I’m a loser?” The Kwami shook her head firmly.

“Of course not, Manon. He’s seen you be Ladybeetle! Who could watch you backflip over supervillains and not think you’re the coolest girl ever?” she beamed.

Spirits lifting slightly, Manon perked up and wiped at her eyes with the back of her wrist. “Th-then…” she trailed off as her thoughts turned dark again rapidly, “why doesn’t he like me? If I’m so cool?”

“Human romance is odd like that. Sometimes, a person can like who you are, even love who you are, and not want to be with you. And you can’t control it.” The flying bug patted Manon’s head some more, cooing as the girl attempted to compose herself. “But you can still be in their lives, however they’ll take you.”

“Thanks, Tikki. You’re a really great friend. I’m glad you’re here with me.” She nuzzled Tikki up to her cheek before turning to kiss her tiny forehead. The kwami giggled.

“See, I knew you were strong. You don’t need to worry yourself over some boy who doesn’t want to date you.”

“I… I guess that’s true,” Manon sniffled. “It’s just… he’s so smart, and cool, and suave, and handsome, and funny, and... I haven’t felt this way about anybody else since, like, middle school. It’s like I want to help him so much, especially now that I know he’s struggling. Even though he just crushed me, I don’t want to give up on him.”

“You don’t have to, I suppose,” Tikki pondered. “I can’t stop you, and neither can he. In the meantime, though, if you do really like him, you can try just being friends. It sounds like he really needs a great one like you.”

Manon’s heart still felt like lead in her chest, her throat dry and too narrow to swallow properly. “I… I don’t even want to see him right now. I’m so embarrassed. And I just _ran away_. Now he’s gonna think I’m a stalker AND a huge baby...”

“Manon, I know you’re hurting, but you should give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s your partner.” Tikki looked sorrowfully down at her sad Ladybeetle as the girl was eaten alive by her own overwhelming thoughts, picking up tiny bits of context and using them to jump to wild conclusions.

“I know, Tikki. I’ll try. I’m sorry, I’ll work on getting over him in the meantime.” The girl finally checked her phone for the time. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. Crap, it was already past the time her first class started! She had overslept and spent too long wallowing in self pity. Instantly, she shot to her feet and ran for the bathroom.

Facing herself in the mirror, Manon caught sight of her appearance. Red, puffy eyes and a matching red, dripping nose adorned her face which was framed by a rat’s nest of tangled, dirty hair. Realizing she had forgotten to shower the previous night, and taking in her current look, Manon sank.

“Oh, Tikki, I can’t go to school like this. I feel like I’m gonna be sick, and I look even worse!” The Kwami patted her shoulder as her charge hung her head.

“Maybe you could take a day off to decompress? You’ve certainly been through a lot this week. If anyone deserves a break, it’s a brand new superhero who just had her heart broken.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Manon thought. She didn't want to be hypocrite, after giving Panthere such a hard time about skipping school the previous night, but at least she had a reason for doing so other than just not liking school. “I’ll have to call my mom. She’s usually cool about me staying home for a mental health day if I don’t do it too often. She trusts me,” she smiled slightly at the thought. The downtrodden teen could feel her tight muscles begin to unknot themselves at the thought of relaxing all day long. Maybe she could take a bath, and a nap… make some pumpkin and apple soup… she could even be home to catch her mother’s morning show later.

Deciding, she returned to her room to grab her phone and speed-dialed Nadja. The woman’s show was currently taping, so Manon knew it would go to voicemail, but that her mother would listen to the message as soon as she was able. As the rings finished, Manon cleared her throat to try to not sound as pathetic as she felt.

“H-hey, Mama. I didn’t really get much sleep last night, and I’m not feeling great, so I was hoping I could take it easy today and stay home. Is that cool? Call me back when you can, okay? Bye, love you,” She hung up, turning to Tikki, who had already turned on the hot water tap to begin filling up the bathtub.

“We’ll get through this, together.” Tikki smiled, and Manon’s heart warmed a bit more.

“Thanks, Tikki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chris would sooner die than show an actual emotion in his civilian life, tbqh. Ladybeetle just wants to protect him from the world, but she's also 15 and takes everything extremely personally. Poor kids.
> 
> Next time: Manon's relaxing day off, maybe. The goons always ruin everything.


	12. Simmering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manon attempts to take a day for herself, but her duty calls her to face Panthere again much too soon.

“No Manon today?” Elise whispered out of the side of her mouth to her boyfriend beside her as class began.

“I guess not. Did you get a text or anything?” Remy was concerned. He hoped Manon was okay.

“No! I’m guessing you didn’t, either, then? I hope she’s alright,” Elise echoed her boyfriend’s thoughts, as she often did.

“We’ll have to give her a call after school, or maybe swing by her place.”

“Guys, could you save the chitchat for lunch? This is going to be on the quiz next week.” M. Agreste tapped the board with his marker to grab the attention of the pair of friends.

“Sorry, M. Agreste,” Elise said as she pulled out her notebook and pen to begin taking notes.

Class crawled by at a snail’s pace without their best friend there to brighten the room. Remy took an extra set of notes to give to Manon after school, making his wrist sore by the end of the lecture. The bell rang out, and Remy and Elise stood up, gathering their belongings to move to their English classroom.

Students made their way through the halls as they always did, and Remy and Elise fell in line with them without a spare thought. Up ahead by the wall, Remy spied Jean, one of Chris’ goons, giving another student a hard time. Suddenly, Jean shoved the student, causing the kid to knock into the person next to him, and so on in a domino effect down the crowded hallway until someone’s back slammed into Remy and Remy toppled sideways into Elise. Remy righted himself instantly, reaching out to grab Elise’s hand as she fell away from him. A look of fear came over his face as her fingers slipped through his and she went stumbling right over to the staircase.

Elise yelled out as she crashed down the black metal steps, knocking her head on the railing once, feeling her hip slam into the edge of a stair. Finally, she reached the bottom and became aware of a sharp pain in her ankle. She was almost afraid to look, but her eyes flicked to it instinctively and saw the way her ankle twisted just farther than it should.

“Elise! No, shit, I’m so sorry!” Remy plowed through those around him to reach his girlfriend and help her to her feet. As she stood, she moaned trying to put weight on her twisted ankle. “Oh, no, you’re hurt! Come on, let’s go to the nurse!” He slung her arm over his shoulder and supported her as she hopped alongside him to the nurse’s office, trembling. Other students cleared a path, pitying looks cast their way. The pair passed by Genna from their homeroom class, and she quickly jumped in to support Elise’s other side and help Remy get her to the nurse.

“It’s not broken, but it’s badly sprained. You’ll have to stay off it for at least a week, maybe a few,” the nurse tut-tutted as he wrapped a thick bandage around and around Elise’s swollen ankle. 

“I have a dance competition tomorrow! I’ve been rehearsing and choreographing my routine all _YEAR_!” Elise bawled. Genna stood beside her, unsure what to say as she patted the girl’s shoulder. The two were only acquaintances, really. Remy had his head in his hands as he sat on Elise’s other side.

“This is my fault, I’m the one who knocked into her. I didn’t catch her,” he moaned, riddled with guilt.

“This is that idiot, Jean’s fault! He shoved some kid because he’s a hopeless dick, and now my life is ruined!” Elise cried, pressing an ice pack to the slight bump on her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her eyes burned in fury.

“I’m sure it’s not totally ruined!” Genna attempted. “What’s one competition?”

“A competition full of scouts for every dancing profession in the country!” Elise spat back. “They cast for the Paris Ballet, for music videos, for everything! I can’t miss this. I’ve worked so hard!” The girl began to sob as Remy placed a hand on her back, trying to rub delicate circles on it to calm her. Unnoticed, a black Akuma slipped under the door to the office.

. . . . . . . . . . .

A freshly-bathed and dressed Manon walked down the street, still feeling tired and somewhat melancholic, but with a certain spring in her step. As she arrived at her destination, she looked up to take in the sight of the bakery before pushing through the door.

The door gave a chime, and Sabine Cheng looked up from the register to notice Manon enter.

“Manon Chamack, is that you?” Sabine said in mock disbelief. “Are you picking something up? I didn’t think your mother ordered anything,” she went about looking through the spiral notebook on the counter, checking for any orders she might have overlooked.

“No, no, Mme. Cheng, I just came by to get some crusty bread for a soup I’m making!” Manon felt Tikki poke her back lightly from inside her backpack. “Oh, and a box of chocolate chip cookies, please!” she grinned.

“Shouldn’t you be in school, young lady?” Sabine chided as she began boxing up some cookies for the girl.

“Actually,” Manon rubbed at the back of her neck, chuckling awkwardly, “I’m taking a day off--with Mom’s permission! I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I’m not feeling too great.”

“Well, that just won’t do,” Sabine replied. “A girl needs her rest, after all. I hope you start to feel better soon! It’ll be nice to have a long weekend, right?”

“Yeah, I’m excited for it. I’ve got that soup simmering on the stove at home as we speak, and I’m going to take a _very_ long nap after I eat it.” Manon grinned. Sabine handed her a brown paper bag containing the baked goods the girl had requested. Manon reached into her backpack to find her wallet, carefully avoiding the pocket containing her Kwami.

“No, no,” Sabine clucked her tongue, “why don’t you take this one on us, since you aren’t feeling well? I’ll have to tell Marinette you stopped by again, she’s been wondering how you’re doing these days. What’s it been, five years since she babysat you last?”

Manon laughed. “Five years at least! I’m in high school now, Mme. Cheng. I’m sure Marinette’s too busy these days for the likes of me. Isn’t she running that whole fashion empire all by herself?!”

“Well, not completely by herself. Adrien helps out when he can, and she has an assistant who’s just wonderful. She’s putting her degrees to use, though, that’s for sure,” Sabine supplied.

“Boy, it’s so weird to hear people call my teacher by his first name,” Manon jokingly shuddered, eliciting a chuckle from the older woman. “Are you sure I can’t pay you, though?”

“Perish the thought,” Sabine said as she waved her hand, as if to dispel the idea. “Maybe next time, but only once you’re feeling better. Enjoy your soup and your nap, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Mme. Cheng. Tell Marinette I said ‘hi,’ and that all of my allowance is going right into her pocket when her Fall line drops!” With a wave, the girl left the bakery and headed home, her heart feeling a bit warmer and lighter from the kindness she had just experienced.

The apartment smelled amazing as Manon entered, shucking off her coat and boots and hanging them by the door. Her pumpkin apple soup was done simmering. Excitedly, the girl danced over to the stove to turn off the burner and allow the pot full of stewed, chunked up produce to cool briefly before she turned on the oven to warm the bread she had purchased. With a yawn and a stretch, Manon flicked on the TV and brought the remote back to the kitchen with her.

A few advertisements played on the screen, letting Manon know that her mother’s morning show hadn’t quite started yet. She opened a cabinet overhead and pulled down an immersion blender, plugged it in, and began pureeing the soup to a perfectly smooth texture. Periodically, she added cinnamon, salt, and fresh herbs as her heart desired. The scent in the room became intoxicating as the bread was removed from the oven and the savory, blended soup was finally ladled into a shallow bowl.

Manon situated herself and her meal at the kitchen island so she could see the TV in the living room as she ate. Her first sip of the autumn soup told her she had balanced the ingredients perfectly. It tasted like fall, like being at an orchard with friends, like stepping on crunchy leaves on the sidewalk. The warmth of the stew spread quickly through her, soothing her tired soul. Offering a spoonful to Tikki, the Kwami eagerly partook as well, rubbing her stomach afterward with an “Mmmmm…”

The intro music for Nadja’s morning talk show began to play from the TV speakers, and Manon perked up to enjoy watching it as it aired, as she rarely had the opportunity. Her mother’s face appeared on the screen, smiling warmly and greeting, “Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news! Good morning, Paris.

“We have a number of wonderful guests slotted for this morning, including an exciting interview with a rising star you may have heard your kids chattering about: Paris’ own idol DJ, Nino Lahiffe! Later on, we’ll head to the craft corner where our friend Ahmoud will be showing us all how to make your own autumn decorations to brighten up your home,” the woman’s voice was bright and cheery, despite having been recorded at about 6 in the morning. Excitement bubbled in her eyes as she read through the show’s agenda for the day and launched into the local news interest stories.

“I’m told it’s a crisp morning out there, so you may want a jacket for your commute. Of course, our own--” the broadcast cut out briefly, a static noise rising in volume the longer it went on. After a few brief seconds, the station cut back in. Nadja’s face was replaced by that of reporter Clara Contarde with a pensive expression, pressing a hand to the bluetooth device in her ear to hear more clearly.

“This is an Akuma Alert. An Akuma calling herself Prima Ballerina has been reported making her way through Paris,” the screen cut to blurry amateur footage of people running through the streets away from a black-haired girl in pink with her back to the camera in the distance. Clara continued, “We’ve been told that watching her dance causes citizens to become hypnotized. We’re unsure where the procession of mesmerized Parisians is headed, but it appears there’s no way to break the hypnosis. The Akuma herself seems to be on her way here to the TV station, so we will be cutting off our broadcast shortly. Everyone is advised to stay indoors and avoid looking out windows until Ladybeetle and Panthére take care of the situation.”

Manon sat barely absorbing the words as they seemed to barrage her, pummeling her ears until they were ringing. She just wanted to finish her soup, just wanted to take a long, relaxing nap. The universe had other plans for her, however. Fear gripped her momentarily as she forced her brain to work, understanding that _she_ was Ladybeetle, _she_ needed to get moving and stop this new Akuma. The dazed girl slowly swiveled her head to her Kwami, who cast her a pitying look.

“I’m sorry, Manon. Maybe this will be a quick one, and we can still get you that nap?” the little bug offered. Just then, Manon’s phone rang out, buzzing it’s way across the counter before she answered it.

“Manon, sweetie, I just got your message! Are you still at home?” Nadja spoke as soon as Manon clicked to accept the call, sounding frantic.

“Yeah, yeah! Is that okay?”

“Of course, honey, and it’s a good thing you stayed home today. There was an Akuma at your school, and it seems like your whole class is already hypnotized! I was so relieved when I heard your voicemail saying you wouldn’t be there. Just stay put, okay? I’ll get home as soon as this is all over. We’re having to board up the doors at the studio in case the Akuma tries to make a live broadcast here,” Nadja spoke rapidly with hardly a pause between sentences.

“Sure, Mom! I’ll just… stay here. Where I can be safe,” Manon grimaced as she boldly lied.

“That’s a good girl. Don’t look out any windows, okay? I love you, sweetheart. Goodbye,”

The phone call ended with a click, and Manon turned to Tikki once more.

“I’ve only had, what, _ONE_ day off since I got these earrings? Does there really need to be an Akuma _EVERY DAY_?!” Manon groaned, loud and long, before she pushed back from her seat and stood up. “Ready, Tikki? Man, I’m really not looking forward to seeing Panthére again…”

“Try to stay positive!” Tikki smiled encouragingly, “You’ll need to be comfortable with your partner to work together effectively. Remember, be his friend. I know you can do it, Manon.”

“Here’s hoping, at least,” the exasperated teen replied, not really listening. “Tikki, Spots on!”

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Ladybeetle released her yo-yo and landed on the street among cars abandoned in the middle of the road. Perplexed, she watched as the scattered people around her passed her by without a second thought, eyes firmly locked ahead of them before they joined a massive throng of Parisians all heading in the same direction.

“Huh. Creepy,” the super girl said to herself, shivering at the silence around her. It appeared Ladybeetle had beaten Panthére to the battle for once. She took off again, swinging from lamp post to lamp post until she spotted the girl in pink she had seen on the news broadcast.

The Akumatized girl marched angrily forward, her fists clenched at her sides as she looked around for any yet un-hypnotized people to target. Black, coarse hair tied up into twin buns atop her head, Prima Ballerina wore a blush pink headband that matched her sparkling unitard. Settled daintily upon her hips was a starched tutu, appearing razor-sharp at its edges as it created a dangerous radius of about half a meter around her. Sheer white tights covered her legs and ran down into the enraged girl’s shoes, which were stitched together from a variety of perfect pink faux flowers. Ribbons were attached to the back of her right shoe, criss-crossing up her right leg and ending in a bow tied behind her knee.

Ladybeetle kept her distance, knowing that the girl could pull a move and hypnotize her helpless in an instant. She spotted a small, golden crown perched atop Prima Ballerina’s head, nestled between the two buns, as well as a wide pink ribbon clutched in each of the girl’s hands. Panthére still hadn’t arrived, so the spotted heroine continued to observe, afraid to make the first move and catch the Akuma’s red-hot ire alone.

The Akuma came upon a couple huddled behind an abandoned car after a moment. Glaring down at them, she sang, “Ah, you have yet to witness my form? This move will really blow your mind! _Battement fouetté!_ ” Prima Ballerina whipped out the ribbons in her hands which instantly wrapped around the couple, drawing them to their feet to watch her in terror. Ladybeetle averted her eyes as sharply, the Akuma drew one foot in a pointed position in front of the other and struck the ground with it. A pink haze formed around the couple as Prima Ballerina twisted her spine, bending in half sideways and circling her arms over her head. “Now go!”

The couple were released from the ribbons, now stepping forward of their own accord to march in the direction the others had gone. Ladybeetle cautiously uncovered her eyes to see them leave. She swallowed her nerves and decided that that was enough reconnaissance. 

“Hey, Pinky! Nice moves. Care to dance?” Ladybeetle called out, snagging her yo-yo above and swinging to meet the Akuma face-to-face.

“Ladybeetle! Give me your Miraculous now, and I’ll _consider_ letting you witness my greatest show with the others,” Prima Ballerina glared, lowering into a defensive stance with fists raised, the ribbons hanging threateningly to the ground.

“Ooh, that sounds fun. Where is this little show gonna be, then?” Ladybeetle baited, bouncing on her toes to keep herself loose and ready to dodge.

“Somewhere large enough to hold all of Paris, so that they may all finally witness me!” Prima Ballerina declared.

Ladybeetle drifted her eyes toward the crowd, noting the direction they were heading and searching her brain for a place that lined up with what the Akuma had just described. _The stadium_! The mass of zombie-like bystanders were marching straight toward it. Ladybeetle shuddered imagining what would happen there if they all were to arrive.

“Did you even listen to me, you pest? Hand me the Miraculous so I can get this show on the road!” Prima Ballerina roared. She impatiently stamped her foot, outstretching her hand toward Ladybeetle.

“I hope I don’t have to tell you not to do that,” Panthére suddenly mused from behind Ladybeetle. 

A humiliating screech escaped the heroine’s throat as she was startled by her partner’s presence. Wheeling around, she took in the sight of him. He stood just behind her, and she could just get a waft of his sweet scent again. He was at least several centimeters taller than her, causing her to crane her neck to meet his warm honey eyes, which crinkled jovially to her. He appeared hopeful that things could be normal between them. The girl bit back a tiny whimper of fear that threatened to spill out as she was met with the source of her anxiety for the day once more.

“P-Panthére! What took you so long?” Ladybeetle piped up.

“I actually went to school today. Are _you_ playing hooky now? And who is this little lady?” Panthére crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg, leaning to look behind Ladybeetle with a smirk at Prima Ballerina.

“I am Prima Ballerina! How have you not heard of me? I’ll show you my moves, then you’ll see!”

“Don’t look!” Ladybeetle smacked an arm across her eyes and tackled Panthére to the ground without thinking as Prima Ballerina called out her next move.

“ _Chaînés_!” the dancer shouted. Rising en pointe once more, Prima Ballerina began a series of rapid turns, approaching the heroes with every step as the haunting pink smoke began to churn out of her.

Ladybeetle dared to look at the boy she had just felled, peeking out from behind her arm. Quickly, the awkward girl realized she was flush against her partner, pressing him into the ground with her body as she covered his eyes with her other hand. Ladybeetle was a teapot about to steam up, so she scrambled to her feet, sliding her hand down to grab Panthére’s and yanking him to run behind her, away from the approaching Akuma.

Prima Ballerina smoothly transitioned from her turns into elegant leaps, her legs stretching wide and far and carrying her rapidly toward them. As the heroes made their escape, she roared with rage and wrapped one of her ribbons around an overhanging light post above. Swinging toward Ladybeetle and Panthére, the Akuma gave chase, using her ribbons to swing from various high points overhead and gain on them.

“Come on!” Panthére thought quickly, hooking his arm around his partner’s waist and elevating the pair with his baton until they could reach the rooftops. He took off running, graciously allowing Ladybeetle to get on her own feet and follow. Ladybeetle, for her part, felt nauseous and dizzy from the repeated closeness to the object of her desire who had just harshly rejected her the night before. She continued to follow his lead, unable to think clearly and formulate a plan for herself as her feelings of awkwardness and mortification turned to simmering anger and hurt.

Prima Ballerina used her ribbons to climb apartment patios up to the roof of a building and continued to pursue the Miraculous heroes. The familiar dark mask appeared over her eyes as she did, and Hawkmoth’s dark voice sounded within the girl’s mind. 

“Don’t let them get away! They want to stop you from showing all of Paris what you can do. Bring me the Miraculous, and you will be the world’s most famous performer,” Hawkmoth drawled temptingly. Prima Ballerina nodded firmly, pushing herself to run faster after them.

Panthére called for his power and Cataclysmed a billboard on a rooftop as he ran past. Just as he hoped, it crumbled and fell, tripping up Prima Ballerina and buying them some time. He jumped back down to the surface streets in an attempt to lose the villain while she righted herself, and Ladybeetle managed to follow him. Dodging parked cars on the roads, he continued to weave through the neighborhood, unsure himself of where he was going besides away from the Akuma. He rebuked himself in his head and urged his brain to come up with a plan of attack.

“Ladybeetle, do you know where her Akuma is? It sucks that we have to fight another baddie that we can’t look at again,” Panthére called behind him.

“I, well, er--uh…” Ladybeetle couldn’t get a thought together to save her life. “I don’t know,” she admitted, “I didn’t get a good look at her before you came and messed me up.” She felt the venom in her words. She knew she was being unreasonable, that she was being a brat, but it was as though she couldn’t control the rollercoaster of emotions running around in her mind enough to be civil. _You can’t be mad at someone for not wanting to be with you._ Tikki’s voice admonished Ladybeetle inside her mind as she imagined what the Kwami would say if she were there right then. She grimaced.

“Come on, Ladybeetle, don’t be like that! You never let me explain last night!” Panthére pleaded, slowing his run to look at Ladybeetle. Stubbornly, she averted her eyes, stiffening her lip at the threat of tears that arose in her.

“I don’t have to, it’s fine. I’m fine. Let’s just beat this Akuma so I can have a break from all of this already! Lucky charm!” She tossed up her yo-yo to cast her power with a grunt, praying that it would provide her any clarity for the situation.

Panthére’s run slowed to a jog, then to a stop as he looked wounded. “I’m so sorry, _mignonne_. I--I get that all of this is a lot right now…” He reached out to her, but she recoiled to avoid him. 

“Stop calling me that!” She was so embarrassed to be acting this way, but she simply couldn’t stop, too exhausted to be polite. She caught the Lucky Charm as it fell into her hands, perplexed. It was a charm bracelet, looking quite a bit like the ones she and Elise had made in grade school before they even knew Remy. How was she supposed to defeat someone with that?

“Hey, Ladybeetle!” a voice hissed from a narrow alley beside them. Ladybeetle jumped, startled again, before she spotted Remy in the shadows of the alley.

“Re--” she slapped a hand over her mouth, remembering that Ladybeetle didn’t know this kid, officially. “Random citizen, get inside or get somewhere safe! There’s an Akuma running around!” The heroine was becoming increasingly exasperated. Why was Remy suddenly being so reckless now?

“Please, the Akuma is my girlfriend!” Remy implored. Ladybeetle felt the color drain from her face as she stiffened, doing a double take at her best friend.

“She’s what?!” She couldn’t stop herself from the outburst. “What happened?”

“She got hurt, and she can’t do this super important dance competition tomorrow anymore. She’s so upset, and it’s all my fault. I’m the one who didn’t stop her from falling,” Remy looked wracked with guilt as his shaggy hair fell over his face. “I saw the Akuma at the last second. It went into the ankle wrap that the nurse put on her!”

The Lucky Charm made a bit more sense, now. Ladybeetle felt guilty as well. All of this had happened while she was lounging at home, making soup and eating cookies? She should have been there for her friend. Maybe then, this wouldn’t have happened and caused Elise to feel as if there were no solution to her problems. She felt so selfish, skipping school just to wallow in boy drama. She held up the Lucky Charm, fondling it, full of regret.

“Hey, that looks just like the bracelet Manon made for her in, like, second grade,” Remy observed. “Maybe you can get through to her with it!”

“Get down!” Panthére shouted suddenly as he noticed that Prima Ballerina had caught up with them. “Run, hide!” he directed at Remy before giving Ladybeetle another pleading look to follow him again. Ladybeetle tightened her jaw, but nodded, following after Panthére to hopefully lead her Akumatized best friend away from her defenseless civilian best friend. A tear slipped from the spotted girl’s eye as she ran. Everything was a mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all still into this? I'm probably going to post an extra update on Monday, as I have all of next week's chapter's pre-written. I'd really love some feedback, though! Anything makes a difference. I've never even attempted writing angsty stuff before, but I feel like this is as light as it can get lol
> 
> Next time: the magic of communication


	13. Mesmerized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes are run ragged as they continue to fight Prima Ballerina.

Ladybeetle and Panthére had switched back and forth between chasing Prima Ballerina and being chased by her so many times now that Ladybeetle couldn’t keep count. She hot-footed after the Akuma, who had a clear goal in mind now: reach the TV station and broadcast live to all of Paris. Once she got everyone to the stadium, she could perform a routine that would literally knock them out, and they would all know that she was a star. 

Ladybeetle took a shortcut weaving and dodging through alleyways until she successfully arrived at the TV station, having beaten both her partner and Prima Ballerina there. She tried the door and thankfully found it barricaded. Satisfied with that security, she swung on her yo-yo up to the roof of the building to try the door up there. Ladybeetle knew from years of experience that this door remained unlocked at all times so that various employees and guests could sneak out to the roof to have a smoke; she had seen it herself when she had followed people around as a child. Just as she’d hoped, the door clicked open, and Ladybeetle took the stairs three at a time down to the operations floor of the station.

“Ladybeetle!” a tech cried out as she burst into the room where employees huddled for safety.

“Stay down, everyone! The Akuma is headed this way, but this fight will end here. Are the cameras on?” Ladybeetle questioned the room at large.

“We’ve disconnected all of the broadcasting equipment, Ladybeetle,” Nadja Chamack addressed the hero, who froze at the sound of her voice.

Turning slowly, trying her very best to look casual, Ladybeetle made eye contact with her own unaware mother and bid herself to speak again. “Excellent, Mo--Ma’am! We can’t let Prima Ballerina get any airtime, or anyone still watching their TV will be under her spell.”

“Is there anything else you need us to do?” Nadja prodded.

Ladybeetle was beginning to flounder under the pressure of giving her mom commands. It just felt wrong. “Nope! You all stay here, okay? I promise, Ladybeetle and Panthére will keep you safe.” Pounding a fist against her chest, Ladybeetle shot the crowd a winning smile in a successful attempt to instill confidence in them. The room cheered as she gratuitously cartwheeled out the door, shutting it behind her. Alright, she may be exhausted and distraught, but she could still manage to have fun with her powers.

Below her, Ladybeetle heard a loud crash. Prima Ballerina had arrived, and Panthére had failed to hold her off. Ladybeetle sighed, taking to the stairs once more.

Prima Ballerina blasted through the station doors with a kick as though they were made of cardboard, despite the heavy barricading work the crew had done. She groaned as she realized that none of the equipment was ready for her broadcast and set about figuring out how to make everything operational. Panthére careened into the room just behind her, his ring sounding a beep.

“Show’s over, girl. I’m not just gonna let you go live!” the feline hero shouted, lunging for the cables in the Akuma’s hands.

“The show is just beginning, stupid cat! _Plié_!” Bending her knees, Prima Ballerina loosened her posture and allowed all of her joints to become flexible. Now that she had named the move, any movement she made while staying loose and pliable would still hypnotize any onlookers. Panthére swore under his breath, slamming his eyes shut. He didn’t understand any of these dance terms, but an experimental peek at the floor by his own feet told him that the pink haze was rapidly filling the studio and it wasn’t safe to look up.

Ladybeetle emerged triumphantly from the door to the stairwell into the studio. “Hey, Akuma, show’s ov--” The girl was cut off as she caught a split second of the Akuma’s movement with her eyes. Instantly, her shoulders went slack and the heroine turned, marching slowly and methodically out the door to join the throngs of already-hypnotized Parisians.

Panthére groaned, keeping his eyes shut. “I already said that line, LB! We gotta work together or we’ll never win this!” The frustrated cat waited for her response as he swung blindly for Prima Ballerina with his staff, trying to slow her progress connecting the wires. “LB? Come on, don’t be like this, this is serious!” The red-haired boy uncovered part of one eye to peek at the door just in time to spy Ladybeetle leaving.

“LB!”

The purple mask appeared over Prima Ballerina’s eyes. “Ladybeetle is helpless now! Fetch me her earrings, then you can get back to putting on your grand show,” Hawkmoth commanded.

“What about the cat?” Prima Ballerina responded to the voice in her head. Instantly, she felt a pressure in her skull as though a headache were setting in.

“Get the Miraculous, or I won’t hesitate to take your power away, child!”

“Yes, Hawkmoth,” she relented, abandoning her work and running after Ladybeetle.

With his eyes glued to the floor, Panthére saw the pink haze dissipate, letting him know it was safe to look around again. Gritting his teeth, the hero took a running leap to land a harsh kick into the retreating Akuma’s back. She skidded across the pavement outside with a grunt before leaping to her feet, enraged. Panthére ran to Ladybeetle, jogging alongside her walk as he tried to get through to her.

“LB, listen to me! Come on, girl, shake it off! I need you,” he petitioned to no avail. Ladybeetle continued her slow stride toward the distant stadium. Panthére thought quickly, yanking the Lucky Charm bracelet from Ladybeetle’s slack hand and flipping back toward Prima Ballerina.

“ _Grand jeté!_ ” Prima Ballerina swung a leg up to begin her next deadly move, but she wasn’t quick enough. With his eyes closed once more, Panthére slammed into the Akuma again, tackling her to the ground and pinning her there. The pink haze that had started to creep around Prima Ballerina’s feet dissipated again.

“You haven’t won, yet. Check _this_ out!” Panthére shoved the charm bracelet in the Akuma’s face, mentally pleading that she would be able to recognize it like her boyfriend had said. The girl beneath him appeared mesmerized a moment before her expression turned to one of pain.

“Snap out of it and focus!” Hawkmoth hissed in Prima Ballerina’s head. Her thoughts cloudy, the girl shot out one of her ribbons to wrap around a patio overhead and pull herself out from under Panthére.

As she rose past him rapidly, Panthére took his opportunity. Remy had said the Akuma went into a wrap around her ankle. With one clawed finger extended, he snagged the ribbon around the Akuma’s right calf, pulling it loose from the shoe.

“Hey, let go of me, you mangy stray!” Prima Ballerina spat as her ascent was halted. 

“Not a chance!” Panthére gripped the loose ribbon with both hands and yanked them apart, severing the ribbon as a black butterfly blessedly made its way out of it. Prima Ballerina’s transformation bubbled away, and she fell down into Panthére’s waiting arms as she became Elise once more.

In the distance, Ladybeetle shook off her hypnosis as the spell broke, along with all of the other people who had fallen victim to the Akuma. Shame set in rapidly at how careless she had been, thoughtlessly running into a room where a villain with hypnosis powers was. She reasoned that Panthére must have defeated the Akuma on his own, saving her and all of Paris without her help. Ladybeetle forced back tears.

“Panthére! I’m…” running toward the studio, she spotted him setting down a now-deakumatized Elise gingerly, supporting her to keep her weight off of her injured ankle. Elise sat down on the curb, burying her face in her hands. Ladybeetle quickly stopped and snapped up the escaping Akuma, purifying it before setting it free to flit away.

Panthére avoided his partner’s eyes, opting instead to check on Elise as his ring gave a loud chirp. “Hey, I’m sorry you got hurt. Your boyfriend is really worried about you. Want me to bring you to him?” Elise sniffed loudly before looking up to meet the hero’s eyes, nodding emphatically.

“Okay, Princess,” Panthére smiled gently, lifting the deflated girl and hoisting them up on his staff to vault toward where he had last seen Remy. Reluctantly, he cast a sorrowful look back to Ladybeetle as he left. “See you later, then?”

“Panthére…” Ladybeetle lamented, “I’ll come with you.” Panthére offered no disagreement, so she followed him as he carried Elise to her waiting boyfriend.

“Lise! God, I’ve been so worried! Are you okay, _amor_?” Remy graciously accepted Elise from Panthére as he handed her off, supporting her weight off of her injury once more. The moppy-haired boy stroked a hand across Elise’s cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb and taking in her glossy eyes. He clutched her into a firm hug, exhaling a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

“I’m okay…” Elise sighed through her tears, unsure if she meant the words. “I’m… I’m alright now. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Sobs wracked her body once more as he held her. Twin beeps sounded from the Miraculous wielders.

“You guys get going, I’ve got her. Thanks, Panthére,” Remy smiled weakly.

“You should thank Ladybeetle, too. After all, it was her Lucky Charm and your idea that tripped her up enough for me to get the Akuma.” Panthére handed the bracelet back to Ladybeetle without meeting her eyes.

“Of course, thanks, Ladybeetle! I’m glad I could be of some help too.” The lanky boy’s smile grew a bit brighter as he helped his girlfriend limp off toward the school.

“Miraculous Ladybeetle!” She tossed the charm into the air, allowing the magical ladybugs to fix all of the damage Prima Ballerina had caused.

Remorse and shame were two ocean waves, washing over Ladybeetle and threatening to drown her as she deflated and hugged her arms around herself, attempting to find her breath. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she opened her mouth with determination, letting whatever words may come fall out if it would mean she could get Panthére to listen.

“Can we talk?” were the words she was given. Panthére paused as his ring beeped out for the final time. Ladybeetle dared to open her eyes to judge his expression, and saw a pensive look there. The boy cast his eyes to the alley beside them and slumped his shoulders a bit. He jerked his head toward the alley after a beat and walked into it, settling himself around the corner of a dark brick doorway. Ladybeetle eagerly followed, shocked at his amnesty.

“Claws in,” Panthére declared, and his transformation rushed away, spitting Plagg out of his ring as he caught the tiny cat.

“Spots off,” Ladybeetle sighed, slumping against the wall near the doorway her partner hid in. Looking to her left, she saw that a haphazard stack of musty cardboard boxes shielded her from view of the street. She huffed. She was spending too much time in dirty alleys next to garbage this week.

Manon wondered if her partner would speak first. She herself had no idea what to say, no real idea what she was feeling. Her mouth popped open time and time again, but words died on her tongue each time, unable to jumble themselves into a coherent sentence. Minutes crawled by as they sat in the dingy back street. The sounds of the city resumed around them as the Akuma Alert lifted, sending Parisians back out of doors and to their previous activities.

“I trusted _you_ ,” Chris finally, blessedly broke the silence just as Manon began to wonder if he had somehow sneaked away without her noticing.

“Wh-what?”

“I trusted _you_ when you asked me to yesterday. Can’t you just trust _me_?” The brokenness in his voice choked Manon up. Her guilt only grew, swarming and buzzing in her ears.

“You’re right,” she finally said, her head between her knees as she stared at the rugged asphalt. “You’re right, I should just trust you. God, I’m being such an asshole! Why am I doing this?!” The girl crossed her arms over her head, groaning with shame.

“Don’t ask me,” Chris replied, emotionless.

“I was careless, thoughtless, and I got hypnotized by the Akuma. You had to fight her on your own. If you weren’t so capable and smart, the whole city would’ve been doomed and Hawkmoth would’ve gotten my Miraculous.” She gulped, searching for the strength to overcome her pride. “I’m so sorry, Panthére. Thank you for saving me, and everyone.”

“It was nothing, LB,” the redhead exhaled harshly. “I wish I hadn’t had to, but it all worked out okay, right? Except for that girl with the busted ankle, I guess.” 

“You said you had an explanation for last night, right? I think the least I could do to repay you is hear you out.”

Chris sat up a bit, trepidatious. “You sure? I don’t want you to bolt again…”

Manon’s cheeks ran red as she lifted her head to gaze up at a fire escape above them. “I’m sorry for running. I was so overwhelmed, and exhausted; I couldn’t think straight. I just wanted to be alone and breathe. But then I acted like a huge brat and ruined everything, and I’m sorry. I won’t run away again. I promise.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, ‘kay?” Chris cracked a tiny smile of relief. “I didn’t want to be all blunt like that last night. I just wanted to, like, tell you sooner than later. I dunno how to say this, any of this really, so bear with me or whatever.” The boy’s words grew more and more noncommittal as he struggled to express his unfamiliar emotions. He shut his eyes and let the words out.

“You’re great, and you’re cute, alright? You said all that junk about finding something I--” he cringed at himself, “love, but I don’t know how. I don’t want this to get more complicated than it already is. I think I really just… want to be your friend, if you’ll have me. It feels really good to just talk with you.” As he laid himself bare before a girl he had known a few days at best, Chris banged his head against the bricks behind him, chastising himself for sounding so vulnerable and foolish.

Manon tried to absorb the words. He didn’t want to be with her… because she was too good of a friend? Why couldn’t you be friends with someone you were dating? Elise and Remy did a great job at that! It didn’t make sense to the overwhelmed girl, but she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt after what she’d put him through. She looked to Tikki, floating beside her, munching on a cookie from Manon’s pocket. Tikki nodded back to her in turn.

The kwami’s words sounded in Manon’s head. _I can’t stop you from liking him, but maybe you could just try being his friend. It seems like he could really use a great one like you._ Tikki was right, Manon realized. She might not be over him yet, but she could see already that he desperately needed a friend who would just let him be himself. Remy and Elise themselves had been best friends before they moved into romantic territory. She didn’t have to give up hope; she’d take Panthére any way she could get him.

“Of course I’ll be your friend, you dumb cat,” Manon bluntly attempted to break the tension with familiarity. Boldness overtook her, and she slid her hand around the corner of the doorway. The moment she barely touched the tip of his middle finger with hers, electricity sparked through her, but she quickly dulled it with her own resolve. “I hope someday you can be yourself with other people, but for now, I’ll gladly listen if you need to talk.”

“Th-thanks,” Chris managed to say through the intense awkwardness he felt crawling under his skin. He looked down to where his partner’s bare finger barely touched his on the ground. “So, you’re swamped by all this too?”

“Yup,” Manon admitted, setting her chin down on her knees, her eyes-half lidded and staring blankly ahead. “I just want a day off, ya know? Being Ladybeetle has really eaten up my life this week.”

“I get what you mean. Being Panthére is lit, like it’s insane! I love it, but I’m so beat. I could crash for three days at this point.” 

Manon sat up at that. “There you go,” she murmured.

“Huh?”

“You found something you love. That’s a good start.” The girl tapped her partner’s hand with her fingers once, then pulled her hand back into her lap so as not to be too pushy with him. Chris grinned.

“Guess you’re right, LB.”

“H-hey…” Manon ventured, sheepish.

“What?”

“You can still call me _mignonne_ , if you want. I’m not gonna stop you.” Her cheeks and ears flushed with heat. She instantly wished she could shove the embarrassing words back in her mouth. Chris casually interrupted her spiral of anxiety.

“You got it, _mon mignonne_. Ready to head out? It’d be sick if we could actually talk about all the Ladybug and Chat Noir stuff right now, but I gotta get back to school.”

“Hey, look at you, going to school like a responsible young man!” Manon mocked as she stood up, brushing tiny rocks and dirt off her butt.

“Bet. Now I’m never going again.”

“Ugh, what kind of friend are you if I can’t even make fun of you sometimes? You’re just gonna have to get used to it, tough guy.”

“A’ight, I’ll give it a shot. See you for the next Akuma. Fingers crossed that Hawkmoth doesn’t work weekends!”

Once Chris had left the alley, purposefully unseen by his partner, Tikki piped up.

“I’m proud of you, Manon. That was very mature what you just did.” She beamed, nuzzling up to the girl’s blushing cheek.

Manon smiled, the act not quite reaching her eyes. “It still hurts, a little,” she admitted.

“I know it does. How about you go home and eat the rest of that soup?” the sprite offered.

“Oh, crap!” Manon shouted, whipping her phone out of her pocket to check for missed calls. “They lifted the Akuma Alert like ten minutes ago! What if my mom beats me home?!”

“Well, she can’t beat Ladybeetle home, right?” Tikki grinned mischievously.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

A perfectly-timed swoop allowed Ladybeetle to duck into her open bedroom window with ease. The room stood chilly from the breeze that had been blowing in throughout the Akuma battle while she was gone. Touching down on the floor, the girl dropped her transformation just in time to hear a knock on her bedroom door.

“Manon?” Nadja called through the door. She muttered to herself, “I thought she said she’d be home all day…”

“Hide, Tikki!” Manon hissed, and the Kwami obliged. She looked down at herself, making sure she still appeared tired and wasn’t too dressed up for a day off. Satisfied with her baggy, comfy harem pants and plain black t-shirt, she hopped to the door, opening it to a surprised Nadja whose hand was poised to knock again.

“Oh, you are here! Thank goodness. Are you feeling okay?” The woman pressed a pale hand to her daughter’s forehead, eyebrows knit together in concern. A shiver passed through her. “It’s freezing in here!”

“Oh, shoot, I must have forgotten to close my window when I laid down! And, uh, I’m… alright,” Manon tried to make her voice sound a bit weaker than she felt, possibly over-acting in an attempt to not make her mother suspicious. “I woke up late, and I was super exhausted. It felt like I just needed a day to reset, ya know?”

Nadja pulled her hand back once she confirmed that the girl wasn’t running a temperature. “You don’t think you’re getting sick, do you? Why are you so tired?”

“Oh, uh, it’s possible! I think I’ve been staying up too late this week… doing homework! Yeah, I’ve been struggling in physics, but my teacher let me have an extension.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry, sweetheart. Is there anyone you can ask for help?”

“Well, Remy and Elise managed to get the assignment done already. I could probably ask them.”

“That’s good, at least. Although, I don’t think I want you seeing anyone today if you’re not feeling well…” Nadja pondered.

“I want to take a nap. If I feel better afterward, do you think then I could have Elise over? I, uh, got a text that she’s having a rough day too and could use a friend,” Manon replied.

“I suppose that’s fine, but only if you’re really sure you’re feeling better later. Let me know before you do anything. Why don’t you get into bed, and I’ll bring you the soup you left on the counter out there?” Nadja reached a caring hand out and smoothed down Manon’s brown locks, giving her an encouraging half-smile.

“You’re the best, Mom.”

“I know,” Nadja joked, sparking a bright giggle from her daughter as the woman walked back down the hall to retrieve the soup. Spying an item on the counter, she remembered something. 

“Oh, Manon, by the way,” she said, “did you order something? There’s a package here, but no return address. Have a look.” The redhead brought the small parcel box into the girl’s room for her to inspect.

Curious, Manon took the package gently, in case its contents were fragile. Her name was printed on a white label sticker on the top, but as Nadja had observed, there was no return address. “I didn’t order…” Manon trailed off as her eyes recognized the red symbol stamped in the top right corner of the brown cardboard. The same symbol that had been on the little black box she found on her coffee table just a few days prior, which now hid underneath a stack of shirts inside Manon’s dresser. Her eyes blew wide.

“Oh, wait, I remember!” Manon panicked, looking up to find a questioning look in her mother’s eye. “This is my, uh…” she struggled to come up with an explanation that wouldn’t cause her mother to want to see what was inside. Manon had no idea what the box contained, but it seemed to be from a certain ex-Miraculous holder. “This is a Christmas present! Get out, you can’t see it!”

Struck by her daughter’s bluntness, Nadja threw up her hands. “Alright, alright, sheesh! No need to yell at me,” a smile played on her lips. “You’re so thoughtful, sweetie. I won’t look. Can I still bring you the soup, though?”

Manon sighed, regretting her harsh, frightened tone. “I’d love that, Mom. Sorry, you know how I like to surprise you!” She tossed the box lightly onto her bed behind her before sitting down herself and pulling back the covers. “Soup and a nap sounds like a perfect Friday to me, Akuma aside.”

As soon as her mother gently shut the door behind her after delivering the promised soup, Manon placed the half-full bowl on her desk and lunged for a pair of scissors to slice through the clear tape sealing the mysterious package. Carefully, the girl dragged the blade down the length of the box before she pulled the cardboard flaps apart, revealing her prize.

A Ladybug doll?

A handmade, plush doll of Ladybug stared up at her from within the parcel, a tiny stitched smile upon her round face, eyes shining blue behind a felt spotted mask. Manon lifted the plushie carefully, wary.

“What…. _is_ this?” Manon wondered aloud. Tikki floated out from under her Chosen’s bed and inspected the item as well.

“Looks like Ladybug to me!” the scarlet sprite chirped.

“Well, I can see that!” Manon barked back. “But why did Ladybug send me a doll of herself?” It didn’t make any sense. Turning the doll over and over in her hands, Manon eyed it meticulously for anything off about it, anything she was supposed to notice. There was nothing. It was just a regular doll. Tikki, of course, recognized the craftsmanship of the old trinket immediately, but dutifully kept her mouth shut.

“You know what? I’m going to sleep. Maybe I can figure this out with a fresh brain in, say,” the brunette paused and checked her phone for the time, “--wow, it’s already noon? How about five hours, then!” Her body relaxed at the idea of a long, uninterrupted sleep. She set the doll down next to the now-forgotten soup and lay her head on her pillow with a slight yawn.

“Fair enough,” Tikki shrugged. There was no rush, after all. A Ladybeetle needed her rest, too.

Eyes fluttering closed at last, Manon slipped under for a long, cozy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let Manon sleep 2k20
> 
> Next time: Manon tries to be there for Elise


	14. Kiwi Brownies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manon and her bestie have some quality time now that Manon is rested and able to focus on her friend's problems.

When the girl awoke, she felt renewed at last. The nap had offered Manon the rest that regular sleep had failed to provide her the past few nights. With a stretch of her arms, she slowly rose to sit on the edge of her bed, reluctant to leave the warm cocoon of blankets she had wrapped herself in. Her eyes opened gradually, adjusting to the early-evening light that filtered in through her window.

Her honey gaze fell upon the doll on her desk once more, and she picked it up roll it over in her hands again. It was familiar to her, at least. The black yarn gathered in pigtails on its head reminded Manon of a simpler time. Maybe she used to have one like it? The girl couldn’t quite recall; she was too young to remember. A thought occurred to Manon, and she picked up the box again to check if there was anything in it she had missed.

Turning the parcel upside-down, a light shake of it caused a tiny note to flutter out onto the bed beside Manon, and she eagerly scooped it up to read it.

“ _You once said I didn’t play fair. How about I let you keep this this time?_

_Take today for yourself. Tomorrow night, I’ll answer your questions._

_-L.B._

“Tikki?” Manon called out.

The little Kwami flitted out of the box of cookies Manon had lying on the floor beside her bed.

“Ah, look who’s awake! How do you feel?”

“So much better. Thank you, Tikki,” she smiled, believing her own words for once. “I could sleep for another whole day, but I think I have a friendship emergency to handle…” Guilt reared its ugly head in the girl once more as her mind wandered to Elise. Whatever had happened to her, she was clearly broken up after she was de-Akumatized. Manon needed to reach out and see what she could do to help. She opened up a text to her best friend, typing out the message and re-typing it several times, unsure of what to say.

_Manon: are you okay? i heard you got hurt?!_

No response came after a few minutes, so Manon prodded further.

_Manon: im sorry for skipping without warning anybody. i didnt sleep at ALL last night and i was gonna be late anyway_

_Manon: im feeling better now. wanna sleep over tonight? we dont have to talk ab it_

The three dots appeared at the bottom of the text screen, and Manon waited a small eternity for Elise’s reply.

_Elise: omw_

“Hey, Mom?” Manon called through her closed door.

“Yeah, honey?” Nadja called back, rising from where she sat on the couch reading the script for her next taping and strolling to her daughter’s room. Manon opened the door, looking more rested than before.

“I feel a LOT better. Thanks for letting me nap!” She beamed. “Hey, so I don’t know if you heard, but the Akuma today… was Elise.”

“What?!” Nadja’s eyes bulged out of her head. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure, but I know she’s still feeling pretty gross. Can she sleep over?” Manon leaned forward onto her tiptoes to shoot her mother her patented Babydoll Eyes.

“Ah, you and those eyes. I would’ve said yes, anyway! I’m just glad you’re feeling better. Is there anything I can do for Elise?” Nadja laughed before becoming concerned again for her daughter’s friend.

“I don’t know, but if I find something out I’ll let you know for sure. Thanks, Mom. You know we won’t get too rowdy. Can we have the living room?”

“Sure thing, sweetie. I was thinking of ordering in tonight, actually. You think you girls would want Indian?”

“Yes!” Manon cheered. She hoped beyond hope that whatever was facing her friend was fixable with a bit of quality time and some greasy food.

Twenty minutes later, Manon heard the buzzer for the door. She bounced over toward the keypad, pressing the button to buzz Elise in and waiting there for her friend to arrive. Three quick knocks on the door, and Manon threw it open to see her usually-radiant pal standing slumped over one crutch under her right arm, frowning down at the floor. The redness in her eyes suggested she’d spent a good portion of the day in tears. Manon’s heart broke.

“El, come in here! What happ--” Manon cut herself off, remembering she had suggested they didn’t have to discuss whatever had put Elise in this sorry state. “Do you want Indian food for dinner? My mom’s ordering.”

Elise’s posture perked up slightly as she finally met the brunette’s eyes. “Well,” she murmured, “you know I’m always game for some butter chicken…”

After their second romantic comedy of the night, the girls leaned back on the couch. Manon threw her feet up on the coffee table, knocking over her discarded takeout box and patting her full stomach under her pajamas. She turned to her raven-haired bestie with a grin.

“I have all the stuff for kiwi brownies, you know…” She dangled the carrot, and Elise sat up to meet Manon’s eye with a devilish grin.

“Sold,” she replied, and shot off the couch, hopping on one foot over to the kitchen and pulling a large mixing bowl down from the cabinet she knew it to be in.

Manon laughed, joining Elise in the kitchen, bringing the girl’s crutch over to her, and gathering her ingredients and tools. Once she had filled a pot with a small amount of water and placed it on the stove, Elise set the tempered-glass mixing bowl on top of it to create a double-boiler. Elise herself was no chef, often burning boxed mac-n-cheese, but she had been baking with Manon since grade school, and she knew just how to be Manon’s perfect sous-chef.

“Choc me,” Manon said in a fake serious tone, holding a flat palm out to Elise without looking away from the pot as she turned on the burner. Elise giggled and handed her two wrapped bars of baking chocolate, which Manon snapped in half and tossed into the bowl.

“Butter, chef?” Elise asked with a dramatic salute, standing at attention with her injured ankle lifted off the ground.

“You know it, girl,” Manon replied. Two unwrapped sticks of butter went into the mixing bowl as well, and Manon handed Elise a wooden spoon to stir the mixture as it melted together, herself stepping to the side to measure out the dry ingredients.

They continued on like that for a bit, playing their familiar game and tag-teaming the baking project while ignoring their own new problems in life. Like this, they could pretend that nothing outside of the apartment they stood in existed, and none of their worries were consequential. Manon relished the feeling of her life being normal again for a moment, frozen in time. All that mattered was that they still had room for dessert, and their brownies were now in the oven after they had both carefully placed kiwi slices evenly-spaced over the top of the brownie batter in the baking pan.

Manon slid her back down a cabinet as she sat down on the floor of the kitchen to watch the brownies bake, as they always did. Elise joined her, but not before struggling to do so without stepping on her bad ankle. Manon had done her best to ignore her friend’s injury, but she was growing restless. While she wanted to provide Elise with a space to ignore the issue, she was also desperately curious if the girl was alright.

“I guess I can tell you, if you want…” Elise offered after a moment of silence on the white tile floor, noticing Manon’s eyes glued to her ankle brace. Manon jolted, tearing her gaze away to make eye contact with Elise.

“I’m sorry, you so don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to!”

“Well, obviously I don’t wanna, but maybe it’ll feel better to say it out loud instead of ignoring it.” Elise frowned, staring into the oven before them, pondering.

“We were leaving first period when that _JACKASS_ Jean shoved some kid. He kinda tripped up the crowd in the hall and everyone started to fall down, including me. Remy tried to grab me, but I ended up… falling down the stairs,” she didn’t look away from the oven as she spoke, rubbing the bump on her head from her tumble.

Manon gasped, her eyes full of concern as her hand flew over her mouth in shock. “I’ll wring his neck! What the hell is his problem? He should be expelled! They all should!” Her shoulders rose and fell rapidly as her blood heated with rage. “What about--” Manon was about to ask about Elise’s competition the following afternoon, the one she had been hearing about for months on end as Elise geared up to show her stuff to the greatest choreographers and agents in Paris. Manon already had her ticket.

The look that fell over Elise’s face told Manon that her friend knew where she was going with that sentence, and she had been avoiding thinking of it for the night. Manon wanted nothing more than to not have to poke Elise’s emotional sore spot, but she had to see if she was willing to talk about it.

“What about tomorrow?”

Elise sat silent for a while. “I guess I just don’t go. I guess my career is just over, like that,” she snapped her fingers once. Her facial expression didn’t change, eyes still glued to the baking brownies.

“El, please…” Manon touched her friend’s shoulder, forcing her to look her in the eyes. “Don’t say that. I’m sure there’s a solution!”

“Oh, yeah? What!” Elise couldn’t help but shout in response. Manon recoiled, but steeled herself, summoning the strength to keep pushing.

“You’re only 15! Your ankle will get better, and you can dance again soon!”

“I have to stay off of it for weeks, Manon! My coach had to pull so many favors to get me into this showcase tomorrow so I could finally start getting audition offers. Those agents and scouts are busy people. I’ll never get another chance like this. It’s over.” Elise’s eyes filled with tears, her voice choking up. “It’s all over.”

Turning to face her best friend fully, Manon grabbed both of Elise’s shoulders now, shaking her once. “Elise, look at me. It is NOT over. You are a perfect, beautiful, talented dancing queen, and you will be famous like you deserve someday.” Elise broke eye contact, biting her lip and casting her eyes down to the floor again. She didn’t believe her. “There will be plenty of other chances! I’m sure of it! I’ll help you; we can network with whoever we can find and get your name out there. You can’t give up like this all in one day.”

“Oh, yeah, we can spread my name around town, like Hawkmoth didn’t do that already. ‘Wasn’t she that crazy Akuma who tried to knock out the whole city?’ Yeah, I’m sure I’ll get plenty of breaks.” Elise wrapped her arms around her torso, hugging herself as she shrank under Manon’s hold, succumbing to the feelings she had been avoiding for hours, hot angry tears pouring down her face.

“Maybe nobody knows the Akuma was you!” Manon suggested. “And if they do, so what? You should’ve seen your moves when you were Prima Ballerina. You were literally mesmerizing. Anybody should be lucky to book you after a PR stunt like that. You need an agent now, frankly.”

Elise sighed, her breath hot and heavy, dragging a hand across her snotty, tear-soaked face. “Whatever. I…” the girl met Manon’s eyes. “I won’t give up yet. But I’ve got three weeks of no dance ahead of me. Everything still sucks.”

“You’re right.” Manon surprised Elise. “It does.” The oven beeped, and Manon stood. “That totally, completely sucks, and we’re both going to kill Jean with our bare hands on Monday. Right now, let’s eat these snacks and go on our phones next to each other on the couch for several hours, showing each other whatever we find that makes us laugh.”

Elise finally cracked a smile, sniffling loudly. “Ah, the classic. I’m… I’m in.” She stood weakly, sliding her weight back onto her lone crutch and pulling out her phone to send an update text to her loyal boyfriend, who had spent all day trying to cheer her up while she had stubbornly ignored him. There was just nobody who could do it quite like Manon could, though Remy definitely had a higher success rate than most.

_Elise: i think im okay_

_Elise: love you,_ amor

At his own house, Remy ceased his worried pacing to read the notification that had just startled him. He breathed out a loud sigh of relief, finally slumping down to sit on his bed and holding the phone to his chest with his eyes closed. He typed out a response.

_Remy: i love you_

The next morning, Manon awoke as Elise accidentally kicked her friend in her sleep. Grumbling, the girl scooted away in the bed until she could lean against the wall, pulling her phone out to scroll through social media and wake herself up some more. Tikki peeked over the edge of the bed at the pair of girls. As Elise grabbed the blanket and roughly rolled to face away from Manon while still fast asleep, the Kwami rose to greet her charge.

“Good morning. How are you doing?” Tikki asked quietly.

“Oh, hi, Tikki. Sorry you had to hide all night. We really needed some girl time.”

“Don’t worry, Manon. I understand completely.” She smiled genuinely.

Elise stirred then, so Tikki dashed to hide within the bookshelf as the raven-haired girl slowly sat up, groaning and rubbing her eyes.

“Ugh, I feel like I got hit by a train. Are Akuma hangovers a thing? I think that took it all out of me, yesterday,” Elise complained, and Manon laughed.

“Could be! Maybe we should have an unhealthy breakfast to cure it, like a regular hangover. I’ve got sausage and mandarin oranges! We could even put green beans and almonds in it. Obviously sardines. And maybe dijon! And some miso paste… and--”

“Hon, you’re going off the rails again!” Elise cut her train of thought off with a laugh, afraid that Manon would start to name things that sounded even worse in combination if she allowed her to continue. “Sausage sounds good. I’ll… consider trying it with the mandarins. I’m trusting you!”

“Aw, you’re my favorite guinea pig, you know that? The sardines are non-negotiable, though.” Manon reached out and pinched her friend’s cheek, making a kissy face. Elise warmed up, barking a laugh and leaning away from Manon’s reach.

“Obviously!”

____________________________________________________________

After breakfast, Elise gathered up her things to head home. She needed to talk with her parents about moving forward with dance, and they were probably worried about her, what with everything that had happened the day before. Manon was sorry to see her go, as she knew the girl wasn’t completely better yet. She had a little more hope than when she’d arrived the previous night, but there was still a hesitation in her smile when Manon wished Elise good luck talking with her parents.

Nevertheless, Elise waved her off, the bright smile finally spreading all the way across her face as she expressed her genuine thanks to Manon.

“Anytime, dummy. Just text me if you need me, and I’ll be right there. Get some rest today!”

“You too, dude! You were so out of it this week. I hope you aren’t getting sick,” Elise patted Manon’s head and turned on her heel to head down the hallway as Manon waved before closing and locking the door.

Manon sighed, briefly allowing her friend’s words to get under her skin. It was the end of her first week as a Miraculous wielder, and she needed to learn to put up a better front about it or her friends were going to get even more worried. This was going to be a lot of work. At least she had nothing but support pouring in from all sides. The thought warmed her, and a smile played across her face as the girl’s confidence was renewed.

“I think that was just what she needed,” Nadja spoke as she entered the kitchen behind Manon.

“Thanks again for letting me have her over. I just hope she can fix her dance situation soon. She might feel better, but it still SUCKS that she couldn’t do the showcase today.” Manon frowned.

“Elise is a great talent, I’m sure she’ll get discovered someday soon. Just make sure she lets that ankle heal up properly first, or she’ll regret it.”

“Of course, Mama. Any interest in this breakfast casserole?” Manon strode over to the stove and pulled the lid off the pot housing her latest inspiration, which gave off a rather distinct odor.

Nadja slapped a hand over her nose before attempting to play off the gesture by scratching her cheek. “Oh! Er, uh, this one looks unique!”

“Come on, don’t knock it ‘til you try it! Elise managed to choke some down. Here ya go!” Manon grinned evilly as she scooped a tiny portion into a bowl and shoved it toward her mother.

______________________________________________________________

Manon’s Saturday afternoon consisted of catching up on the assignments she had missed the previous day at school, scrolling on her phone, and tidying up her bedroom a bit. She placed the Ladybug doll on her dresser with her other knick-knacks, hoping it blended in enough that her mother wouldn’t ask any questions about it. It looked cute and playful alongside the other memorabilia Manon had gathered over the years.

Before she knew it, Manon was being alerted by Tikki that it was about time to head out. Nodding to her Kwami, Manon stood from her desk and slipped on a warm, oversized cardigan to face the chilly evening. She tugged on her backpack and ushered Tikki into the pocket with a few spare cookies, turning to exit the bedroom.

As she twisted the doorknob, Manon’s mother’s voice announced, “Manon, you have a visitor!”

 _Oh, not now! Who could even be here? I have to go meet Ladybug!_ Manon tried to calm her racing thoughts. If it was her friends, how would she get rid of them? She had been planning to tell her mother that she was meeting up with them tonight as a cover. And who else would be visiting her? The girl gulped, opening her door to find out who was waiting for her.

Nadja stood beaming in the hall, inviting the unexpected guest inside enthusiastically. The guest stepped through the door, and Manon was surprised to see a petite frame, impeccable casual fashion choices, and bluenette hair all wrapped up into one Marinette Dupain-Cheng in her entryway. Or, was it Dupain-Cheng-Agreste now? Just Agreste? Manon wasn’t sure, but giggled internally at the thought of three last names.

“Manon, look who came by to visit!” Nadja announced warmly. “It’s so nice to see you, Marinette! It’s been such a long time. You’re never at the bakery anymore since you moved in with that boy.”

Marinette laughed, leaning in for _La Bise_ with Nadja. “Well, that boy is my husband now, but I do try to make it back to see Maman and Papa as often as I can. I’ve been really busy lately.” She turned to Manon. “Speaking of which! Maman mentioned you stopped by yesterday, so I thought I’d return the favor.” Marinette’s kind, excited smile lit up the room, causing Manon to momentarily forget her previous obligation.

Manon approached Marinette in greeting as well. “Oh, you didn’t have to do that!” the girl squeaked.

Marinette smirked, “I know, but I wanted to. Nadja, is it okay if I take Manon off your hands tonight, for old time’s sake?”

“Of course! You girls have fun. Thanks, Marinette,” Nadja laughed.

“Oh, I--but, I…” Manon attempted to come up with the resolve to turn Marinette down, knowing she couldn’t commit to spending the whole night with her when she had to meet Ladybug at some point. Marinette interrupted her.

“Ice cream?” Marinette offered, her eyes tantalizing. Manon gulped. Her weakness.

“Well.... Okay, sure! I can’t stay out too late, though!” What resolve she did find immediately crumbled at the mention of frozen treats. Marinette gestured to the door with her head, turning on her heel, and Manon followed behind.

“Bye, Mom!” the brunette called as she closed the door behind her. The elevator ride down to street level was quiet as Manon wondered what to say to her old babysitter. It seemed like an odd visit for the woman to make, after all. Manon was just a kid. She had of course loved whenever Marinette watched her, especially because it often meant Alya would join and spice things up, but what did they have in common now that Manon was independent and Marinette was a full-time fashion mogul? Maybe they could talk about M. Agreste?

“So, M. Agreste is, like, everyone’s favorite teacher now,” Manon ventured, testing the subject. Marinette turned at the mention of her husband as the elevator doors opened to let them out.

“That’s good to hear! I’ll have to tell him he’s still got fans, even after retiring from the spotlight.”

“Oh, for sure. You should hear the things my friends say about him,” Manon laughed, then caught herself, afraid she had said something awkward. “I mean! They respect him of course. They just… think his hair is shiny…”

“It is pretty shiny, you’re absolutely right. Hopefully, they appreciate him for his expertise in physics more so than his appearance.” The pair stepped into the building lobby and headed for the glass doors ahead of them

Manon stuck out her tongue. “He’s not my type, so at least you know I like him for his teaching skills.”

“Not into older, married men? I must have raised you right!” Marinette replied. She broke eye contact then, opening the door and holding it for Manon, who gawked before laughter overtook her.

Half an hour later, they sat on a bench beside Andre’s Ice Cream Cart, each enjoying their own cone. As Manon finished taking tiny bites off hers with the small spoon, she leaned back, preparing to attempt to excuse herself from whatever Marinette had planned for the rest of the evening.

“It was so awesome to see you again, Marinette! I, uh, I might have to bail, though. I’ve got plans… with, uh,” Manon faltered. Would it seem too rude if Manon were leaving for plans with her friends? Was homework a better excuse? Her mom hadn’t given her a curfew, so she couldn’t claim that Nadja wanted her home. Marinette interrupted her train of thought once more.

“With Ladybug?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Manon has the superpower of incredible friendship. Marinette learned from the master of cryptic responses.
> 
> Next time: Marinette has some 'splaining to do.


	15. Successor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette answers many of Manon's burning questions as Manon tries to absorb the fact that her old babysitter was Ladybug.

The poor girl’s heart had leapt so far into her throat that she struggled to breathe around it. Attempting to swallow, Manon realized her mouth had gone far too dry to perform the action. She sputtered, unable to formulate a response in any kind of reasonable amount of time. Marinette, for her part, continued to stare at Manon, her head cocked slightly as though her question had been entirely innocent. Eventually, when neither of them had spoken for at least thirty seconds, Manon slapped a few words together.

“I what you mean?!” she shouted, almost spitting in her former caretaker’s face accidentally.

Finishing the final licks of her own cone, Marinette stood, offering a hand to Manon. “Come on.”

Manon took her hand, partially thankful that she no longer needed to speak, but her head was still spinning. _Girl, get it together! You have to deny! What does your old babysitter know about your superhero identity? Maybe she doesn’t know at all! But you have to think faster than THIS!_ She chastised herself harshly, but still no excuse came to her.

Marinette led her back to the streets, through throngs of tourists crowding the sidewalks, enjoying the fantastical Paris evening. Manon fell into a daze, her thoughts overtaking her mind. _Oh, god, is Marinette Hawkmoth?!_

As she reached a largely empty street, Marinette let go of Manon’s hand, confident the girl could follow on her own now. Manon instead paused and looked at her, just _really_ looked at her for the first time in a long time, and the pieces started fitting together. Marinette no longer wore her childish pigtails, instead opting for a cropped style that reflected her maturity, but Manon still remembered Marinette that way whenever she thought of her. The pigtails, tied with ribbon, just like Ladybug’s. Just like the doll Manon had received in the mail just the day before.

And that doll. Now that Marinette was front and center in the girl’s mind, memories of the dolls started to return to her. The reason she was first akumatized, the fact that she had been playing the villains in her childhood romp with her babysitter one fateful afternoon when she got a bit too upset over losing to Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls. When her mother had found that she had stolen the dolls to play with at home, despite being forbidden from taking them. When a tiny, black butterfly had come to her and promised that she could have whatever she wanted, that she could win.

“ _You once said I didn’t play fair…_ ” 

The gears were turning. Marinette’s cocky expression was morphing into one of concern as Manon continued to stare at her.

“ _How about I let you keep it this time…_ ”

“Ah… aaah…” the girl opened her mouth, tiny noises escaping as her mind refused to face what was coming together before her. Marinette grabbed her hand again, leading her through a back street since it appeared that the girl couldn’t follow on her own right now after all. “Ahhhhh… AaaaaAAAAAAHHHHH! AAAHHH! AH! YOU, WHAT?! I! WE DIDN’T--AAAAAHHH!” Manon’s confused moans gradually increased in volume until she was shouting, her voice surrounding them and drawing the attention of passersby as she aggressively pointed her finger at her former babysitter.

Marinette’s eyebrows shot up, and she finally turned down the last street as she slapped a hand over Manon’s mouth. “Shhhhh! Just one more block.” It was as if Manon hadn’t heard her at all, as she continued to yell in shock, muffled by Marinette’s hand. A minute later, Marinette sighed in relief as they arrived in front of the abandoned massage parlor. Letting go of Manon’s hand, the woman grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her just once. “Breathe, Manon. Let’s go inside.”

Manon was too bristled to do anything but obey as she mechanically walked into the pitch-black parlor, Marinette gingerly closing the door behind them. The girl opened her mouth again, and Marinette placed a hand over it once more. “Wait!” She led her into the back room before releasing her hold. “Come out, Tikki,” Marinette called, and the Kwami emerged from Manon’s backpack as Manon stared on in further shock.

“You’re Ladybug!” the shout finally fell out of Manon’s mouth, tasting heavy, feeling like the words clunked onto the floor of the dusty room. Marinette looked sheepish suddenly, biting her lip and cautiously nodding, afraid of causing more damage to Manon’s apparently fragile psyche.

“You were--and you are! And you gave me these! Why?! Who did--I don’t--AAAAHHHHHH!” Manon shrieked her disbelief more and more, pointing to the magical earrings she now permanently wore. Marinette sat and allowed her charge to let out her emotions, thankful that they had made it to the largely soundproof back room before this had all erupted. After a few minutes, though, she had to just interrupt.

“I was Ladybug. I chose you to be my successor. I’m the one you’ve been meeting here this week, yes.” Marinette stepped over to a relatively clean lamp on a dust-caked table and flicked it on. This appeared to shock Manon further.

“This place has electricity?!”

Marinette laughed then. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed until her stomach started to hurt. Manon was always such a funny girl, and the way her brain prioritized things never failed to tickle Marinette. The girl was just how she had remembered her. She was so Manon.

“Well, I can afford to pay for electricity for an empty building that nobody uses now. This lamp will probably be the first blip on the bill in years. Yes, it has electricity. I’m actually thinking of opening a boutique here sometime…” Marinette’s eyes had a far-off look to them as she started planning in her mind.

“I need to sit down,” Manon declared, holding a hand firmly against her own forehead. She stepped to the nearest piece of covered furniture, now visible as a wooden chair in the lamplight. Whipping the sheet off of the chair, Manon instantly began a set of sputtering coughs as dust seemed to explode off of it. Cobwebs eagerly grabbed onto the legs of Manon’s pants as they disconnected from the sheet itself. “Ew, this place is the worst! Why do we even meet here?!”

“This is where I used to meet my mentor, the previous Guardian,” Marinette smiled serenely at the memories. “It’s been abandoned for years, though. Adrien actually bought it for me as a graduation present when I finished university.”

“Oh,” Manon muttered, feeling guilty for insulting the place, “sorry.”

“That’s okay. I have let it get pretty bad in here. It’ll be a lot of work to make this place into a profitable business. Maybe that’s why I keep putting it off,” the woman giggled, rubbing at the back of her neck awkwardly.

Silence fell over the pair as Manon looked around the room, trying to find any words to convey her shock, trying to settle on a question to ask of her.

“So, you came and got me at my house just to stress me out, knowing I’d be trying to come here to meet you tonight?” Manon finally spoke, accusing.

“... A little…” Marinette eventually replied, biting her lip. “I have to admit, being mysterious is really fun, and it’s a great break from the monotony of the business world.”

“Monotony? You’re a fashion designer! Isn’t it constantly exciting and colorful and stuff?”

Marinette laughed. “Well, it can be! However, a lot of my job is running Agreste Fashion, so designing takes a backseat. Of course, most of what we produce are still Marinette originals! We contract out to plenty of other designers, but you know mine always have my signature on them,” she winked.

“Ah,” Manon took in the information, still aware that she was ignoring the elephant in the room. More silence came then. The creaks of the old, smelly building grew louder with the wind outside. “You were Ladybug.”

“Yes?” Marinette wasn’t sure how to answer.

“And now I am…” Manon continued, looking at the floor.

“Yes. Well, now you’re ‘Ladybeetle,’ at least.”

“Why?” The question was so simple, but it bore everything within it. Everything Manon had been through that week, everything she was thankful for but had worn her down to the point of exhaustion, to the point of acting like a child when her partner had rejected her. Everything about her life that she was still adjusting to had been given to her by the woman standing before her. She couldn’t find anything else to say about it. She just had to know why.

“What do you mean?” Marinette was confused. “I’ve already told you why I chose you, specifically. You have a hero’s heart, your mind works just like mine, and you’re the perfect balance to your new partner. There was no one else I could have even considered choosing in all of Paris.” She smiled a motherly smile at Manon, who still looked pensive.

“But… why did you give up?”

“I didn’t,” Marinette answered flatly. “Or, maybe I did…” Doubt crept into her mind, but she shook her head to dismiss it. “Something changed in my life, and I decided that, while the Miraculous would always be a part of my life, I couldn’t be Ladybug forever. It hurts to leave Tikki--she’s one of my best and oldest friends--but I know she’s in good hands with you.”

“But…” Manon began again, but Marinette cut her off.

“Didn’t you have other questions? Questions about the old Hawkmoth, and the story I told you? I think those are better answered first.”

Manon was taken aback briefly, but then set about trying to even remember anything about the story from the previous few nights. Her head was still swimming, but she recalled she had written them down, and the notepad was inside her backpack. Slipping the bag from her shoulders, she pulled the notepad out to review her notes.

“Right, I remember now! That story was insane. How come it took nine of you to take down two old people? Why did you take the baddies to Tibet and not prison? Oh! And was that Bunnyx’s first battle? I can’t believe you didn’t have her from the beginning! Wasn’t she the one you sent back in time to fight Chris--I mean Timetagger?”

“Ah, there we go. Same old curious Manon. Yes, we really did outnumber them by quite a bit, didn’t we? But they had the advantage of age. They could use their powers as many times as they wanted without detransforming, and they were stronger than any of us. We maybe could’ve overwhelmed them, but it took a lot of us to even get close to them. I wanted us to have every advantage, so I called everyone I had ever given a Miraculous to, even though Hawkmoth had already learned most of their identities.”

“Okay,” Manon replied thoughtfully, leaning forward in wait for the remainder of her answers.

“What were the other questions? Oh, right, Tibet. Believe me, I wanted to take Gabriel to prison the second we got the pin off of his chest, knowing that he tried to Akumatize Adrien to steal my Miraculous after he found out about his mom, but--”

“OH MY GOD, I DIDN’T EVEN THINK ABOUT THAT YET. OH MY GOD. M. AGRESTE WAS CHAT NOIR? I’M GOING TO EXPLODE!” Manon felt the shouts bursting from her chest, but it was as though she wasn’t even the one speaking. “YOU’RE MARRIED TO CHAT NOIR. OH MY GOD, GABRIEL AGRESTE WAS HAWKMOTH? AAAAAHHHHH!” Manon stood, pacing around the room grabbing fistfulls of her hair and shouting, stubbing her toes repeatedly on miscellaneous furniture as Marinette watched, amused.

“Yes, and now you’re one of the only few people who know either of those things. Just you, me, and the rest of the heroes of the past. Oh, and,” Marinette checked the watch she wore for the time, “probably Panthére, in a few hours. Adrien wanted to meet with him at the same time as we met, but he had a bunch of grading to do.”

“You guys are revealing your identities to Panthére, too?” Manon halted her pacing, wheeling on Marinette with the question.

“Why not?”

“Well, why did you decide to suddenly reveal it to me?!”

“I’m sorry about that, Manon. Clearly, it’s a lot for you to absorb. I needed to wait and make sure you were taking this seriously, that you could keep the secret from everyone in your life, even though it is extremely taxing, mentally and emotionally. I couldn’t risk my own secrets being exposed and putting my family at risk. I wanted you to know and meet me right away so that you could come to me for help when an enemy is overwhelming you, but I had to be pragmatic.” Marinette was sheepish.

Manon was visibly hurt that her old babysitter didn’t trust her right away. She had trusted her enough to hand over the Miraculous to her without another word, but held back on the real juicy secrets? Alas, Manon had to relent that it made sense. If someone found out about Manon, or if Manon had decided to gossip, how would Marinette have known that she wouldn’t tell someone? It had been a few years since they had any sort of strong relationship.

Marinette knew Manon was growing upset, battling internally with herself, so she broke the silence once more. “I’ve been watching you very closely all week, making sure I was right to trust you. After what you went through yesterday, I feel that you now understand the full extent of your duty. I know you’ll keep the secret now. However, since it’s been so hard on you…” Marinette hesitated, slowly closing her eyes and lifting her chin. “If you want to return the earrings, I’ll understand.”

“What?!” Manon jumped, caught completely off guard. She hadn’t even considered quitting, even when she was buried up to her neck in the thick of things yesterday. Hearing the words come from Ladybug--Marinette, it stung and shocked her. “Do you not think I can do it?”

“Of course I think you can do it, Manon. Heck, with those Baby Doll Eyes, I’m confident you can do anything. I just wanted you to know that you have a choice in this, too. You can step back, just like I did. I never want you to feel forced into this life.”

Manon smiled, understanding. “I don’t want to quit. It is hard… but I’m not giving up.”

“Wonderful,” Marinette smiled back in response. “Now, your other questions…” she tried to recall. “Oh, about Bunnyx! Yes, it was her first battle. When Bunnyx was sent back to assist with Timetagger, I was a teenager, and it was my first time meeting her. She told me that I had sent her from the future to help… myself? And that I was the one who gave her the Rabbit Miraculous, but in the future. She also hinted that it wasn’t quite the right time yet for me to give her younger self the Miraculous, so I waited until I really needed an ace in the hole. I think it worked out pretty well!” she laughed.

Manon’s eyes practically glazed over as she tried to absorb all of this time travel nonsense, overcoming her own emotions for the sake of morbid curiosity. “That sounds… complicated. Wait, I don’t think you ever finished about Tibet, though. I cut you off because you shattered my entire world by saying my homeroom teacher used to dress up as a cat and beat people up. Go on.”

“Well, if you’re going to put it like that…” Marinette shook her head, smiling. “It was the Lucky Charm that told me what to do. My first instinct was to hand them over to the authorities, but the fortune cookie made me think. Was superhero business really something the police were equipped to handle? It didn’t seem like something the court system was designed for,” she chuckled. 

“After I recovered from my rib fractures, I went to Tibet using the Horse Miraculous, which grants teleportation, and found that the monks had created two magical cells for Hawkmoth and Mayura using a Miraculous they had on hand. Together, we decided that they should stay imprisoned until they were rehabilitated.”

“Jeez, I didn’t realize there were so many Miraculous with so many different powers... Hey, can you really rehabilitate a _supervillain_?” Manon scoffed.

“Manon, everyone has the potential to be good. It’s our choices that affect where we go. When we feel trapped, we can make a lot of bad choices that get us even more stuck. It’s important to have compassion for your enemy. Whoever this new Hawkmoth is, we need to have compassion for them, too.” Manon felt admonished by her hero and looked down in shame.

“I’m sorry, Ladybug. It just... seems like it would sure take a long time for them to be rehabilitated, I guess. And, hey, what about Adrien’s mom that Hawkmoth had? Did she die?”

“This is all getting into complicated territory, but I’ll try to give you the lite version for now. Of course, Adrien’s mom was also Hawkmoth’s--Gabriel’s--wife. She had been using a broken Miraculous which caused her to fall into a magical coma. Gabriel was keeping her alive in his secret lair, and he wanted our Miraculous to wish for her to be healed. Once Adrien and I knew what was going on, we worked with the monks at the temple to translate ancient texts and come up with a cure.”

“You cured her?!” Manon exclaimed, in disbelief.

“Not entirely. We were able to wake her up, but she still suffers from weakness and dizzy spells. She had no memories at first. Over time, they came back to her, and we also told her what had happened while she was asleep. When she found out about Gabriel, she herself went to go tell him off for doing what he did in her name.”

“Oof, that must’ve hurt,” Manon rubbed at her shoulder.

“I think it did… because that’s when Hawkmoth started to change. The monks worked with him every day, meditating, studying, healing his black heart. It took years for us to even think of trusting him again, but, over time, he was able to leave his cell and freely wander the temple without being restrained. Eventually, it had been so long, he was like an entirely different person…” Ladybug trailed off, lost in thought.

“What about Mayura?” Manon attempted to bring the retired hero from her reverie.

“Mayura is… complex.” 

“Okay…?”

“Sorry, I’m just thinking about it all again for the first time in a great long while. Mayura was Gabriel’s assistant for many years before she took up the Miraculous to help him defeat us. She was rehabilitated as well. Gabriel actually returned to Paris to reconcile with Chat recently. Mayura came back, too, but she’s kept to herself. I think, truthfully, that it’s hard for her to live with what she did to Adrien--and to all Parisians--just to gain her boss’s favor. I’ve seen her a few times since she returned, but I try to let her have her space, mostly.”

Manon took a deep breath, absorbing again before turning back for more answers. “Why did she help a supervillain terrorize the whole city?”

“That’s also complicated, I guess” Marinette grimaced slightly before sympathy overtook her expression. “Mayura--or Nathalie, her civilian name--was a woman in love, and she would do anything to make Gabriel happy. But… once Emilie, Adrien’s mom, woke up again, Nathalie knew that she didn’t have a chance, and she realized that she had been fighting to put the man she loved into the arms of another woman.” Marinette’s eyes grew misty. “It was an incredibly noble sacrifice for a villain, frankly. I can’t imagine what she’s gone through. I think that’s a big part of the reason that she didn’t try to reconcile with us as Gabriel did. I can’t blame her for not wanting to be around Gabriel anymore.”

After a thoughtful moment, a question rang around in Manon’s mind, one she couldn’t suppress thinking about. “Do you really think we have to have compassion for _all_ of our enemies?”

“Yes,” Marinette stated plainly, her face full of resolve.

“That doesn’t seem fair,” Manon pouted, thinking of all those who had wronged her just recently. Hawkmoth stood at the top of list, but Chris Lahiffe and his goons weren’t too far behind him at this point with almost a decade of bullying her under their collective belts. “I spend a lot of time trying to be kind, and be the best Manon I can be, and I have to waste compassion on people who don’t care about who they hurt?” Manon’s eyes stung a bit. The perceived unfairness of the situation was getting to her rapidly.

“Hey, now, I understand exactly how you feel. I am not innocent in this. I let myself hate people in my youth, and it ate me up inside. Keeping enemies, battling with them whenever we crossed paths at school, it used up so much of my energy. When the Lucky Charm told me to be compassionate of Hawkmoth, I started to heal from all of that. I realized that I felt better every day that I was extending my friendship to anybody I came across. I realized that no one is a lost cause, no matter how evil I think they are.”

Grumpily, stubbornly, Manon tried to let the words be heard but not felt. She didn’t want to feel as though she were the bad guy for being the target of bullies. “Isn’t that victim-blaming, Marinette? I’m not responsible for how people who want to hurt me feel!”

“You’re right, the only one responsible for how your bullies feel is themselves. And it can feel good for you to hurt them back after they’ve hurt you so many times. But this isn’t a cartoon. Your enemies aren’t one-dimensional supervillains who only want to do as much damage to the world as possible. They don’t wake up each morning and plot out a list of ways to make your life miserable, specifically. Most of the time, when someone is hurting you, they are barely aware of it, because no one has ever shown them compassion themselves. You don’t have to be kind to them, but I’ve found that leading by example is the most effective tool for converting my enemies into my allies.”

Manon was silent.

“I’m not condemning you for reacting in a normal human way when people cause you pain, and I’m sorry that it feels like I am. I’m only trying to give you some advice that saved me quite a bit of grief after I finally came to terms with it. It allowed Hawkmoth to return to society, a changed man. It allowed me to move on from the years I spent chasing his shadow until I could be happy by myself.”

“Why did you give up Tikki, Marinette?” Manon finally interrupted. She had been attempting to take the advice with a grain of salt, but she wanted her questions answered.

“That’s a big question.”

“Aren’t they all?” Manon asked, rather flatly.

Marinette sighed. “I suppose they are. I’m sorry to have upset you with my advice. Adrien says I’m a little pushy, and he’s probably right, so I should lay off it for now. I’ll try to explain myself.

“After we defeated Hawkmoth and he was safely locked away where he couldn’t hurt anyone anymore, Chat and I wondered what to do with our Miraculous. No more villains plagued the city, and it was complicated to get into vigilante work. Not long after that was when Majestia contacted us to join her in fighting international supervillains, as I’m sure you remember. We might have been going to university at the time, but with our space power-ups and the Horse Miraculous, we could effectively be anywhere in the world in minutes, so we were very valuable to her. Of course, you know the rest of the team that defeated Hawkmoth joined, too, and we were basically unstoppable once all of our adult powers started coming in. Gosh,” Marinette got a dreamy look in her eye, “it took us years to take down Hawkmoth, but we moved on to fighting aliens, evil twins, and rat kings within months. We really stepped our game up after we shed those time limits.” That made Manon finally laugh a bit, easing her out of the tension she felt.

“Now that I’m up against a Hawkmoth, myself, I sympathize,” Manon supplied, giving a half-smile.

“Right? I mean, wow. Anyway, of course, the Protector’s League declared all major villains defeated, what, two years back? Majestia disbanded our group, saying all the small-time offenders that remained didn’t need the heavy artillery we had been dishing out, and that all superheroes should return to protecting their own cities only. Adrien and I were honestly… relieved.” Marinette held her shoulder with one hand, peering at Manon to see if the girl had opened back up. She met her charge’s eager eyes, then looked to Tikki, who nodded.

“We started to live our own lives, only transforming to do some patrols and communicate with the guardians in Tibet. And, sometimes, I suppose, just for fun,” she winked, and Manon giggled. “Adrien and I got married, and it felt like everything was starting to fall into a good rhythm. Eventually, naively, we started to think that we weren’t needed anymore, and we could start doing things for ourselves. You see, when the first new Akuma appeared last week, I had just found out that… well…” Marinette trailed off, placing a hand lightly on her lower stomach. Manon wore a look of confusion before her eyes widened slowly.

“You’re pregnant?!” the brunette girl exclaimed, leaning forward.

Marinette simply nodded, tears gathering in her eyes. Manon lost all hesitation, rocketing forward and grabbing onto her former babysitter for a fierce hug. 

“I’m so happy for you, you’re going to be such an amazing mom!” Manon cried into Marinette’s hair.

“Thank you, Manon. That means a lot, coming from the girl I got to practice on.” She smiled. “It feels almost foolish now, actually. Adrien and I got so confident that there would be no more danger, that we decided it was safe to try to start a family. Then, in came the new Hawkmoth, when we hadn’t even known that the Butterfly pin had been stolen. I… I’m so sorry, Manon!” Marinette met Manon’s eyes, and suddenly the woman was crying. Manon was confused, pulling back from the embrace.

“Sorry for what?”

“It was my job to keep track of the Miracle Box, and all of the Miraculous inside of it. My old master trusted me, but I let Nooroo get stolen _again!_ I failed my sacred duty, and now all of Paris has to answer for it, and you had a rough week trying to deal with my own mistake. I’m so, so sorry.” Marinette deflated, the confidence she had practiced for this meeting leaving her as she placed her head in her hands.

“How did it happen?” Manon asked.

“We… don’t know. The Miracle Box is extremely secure, and all of the current Miraculous holders keep track of their own Miraculous full-time now, rather than just temporarily as it was when we were kids. Because I had fewer Kwamis to keep track of, I guess I got sloppy. I still checked in on the box every day, chatting with the Kwamis and feeding them, taking inventory… but…” Regret glistened in her misty eyes. “Whoever took the Butterfly Miraculous must have known I had already checked in that day, because they came in later, and had already created Timetagger the same day before I got home from work.”

“Did the Kwamis see who took it?” Manon prompted.

“No,” Marinette replied solemnly. “Only Tikki and Plagg, Chat Noir’s Kwami, were active at the time, and they were both with Adrien and I at Agreste headquarters. We questioned Gabriel immediately, even calling up Nathalie to come in, but both of them had alibis, and no one else should have known where the Miraculous were. None of this makes sense, and I don’t know where to begin. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“I…” Manon wasn’t sure what to say to all of that. She patted Marinette’s shoulder as the emotional woman looked to her for a response. “I forgive you, Ladybug. Everyone makes mistakes. How could you have known?”

“I think I really, really needed to hear that from you, Manon. You have such a big heart. I have confidence that we can fix this together.”

Manon smiled brightly, applying fake confidence to reassure her mentor. “Yeah! We can do anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes fake confidence is all ya got, but it's better than nothing! Whew, that was a lot of exposition. Are you tired? I'm tired.
> 
> Next time: Same chat, different kid. That's right, we're getting a Chris POV. You're welcome.


	16. Perfectly Matched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir tries to have his own dramatic reveal with Chris.

Plagg floated irritably before his current Chosen, who was yanking on an oversized windbreaker and examining himself in his bedroom mirror. The bedroom itself offered no homey comfort to Chris as he turned to look around for his backpack. When his brother had gotten his first huge check from his DJ career taking off, the first thing he had done with it was sign a lease for a much larger, multi-floor apartment more centrally-located within Paris to move Chris and their mother into. They’d lived in it for more than two years now, but it still felt sterile and cold to Chris.

He could never remember where anything was at this new place. It never became familiar to him, as he did everything he could to spend as little time there as possible. Finally spying the backpack, the teen murmured for Plagg to get into it.

“I’m not getting into that thing again. I prefer to ride shirt pocket, you know that. It’s cold out there!” Plagg huffed, crossing his arms.

Chris groaned. “Yo, Little Dude, we have to get moving! Don’t you wanna see Chat Noir, too? Can’t you just work with me?”

Plagg placed the back of one tiny paw to his forehead and leaned backward. “Oh, woe is me, left to freeze inside a cold, dark backpack when I could easily fit inside that giant coat and cuddle up to my trusty Chosen… too bad he doesn’t care about me… at all…”

“Ugh! Plagg, you’re the worst. Get in here.” Chris held open one side of his windbreaker, which Plagg eagerly zoomed into, purring at the warmth.

“I knew you wouldn’t let me down,” Plagg teased. “Of course I want to see Chat Noir, at least he knows how to feed me right.”

Chris felt embarrassed by the smile that washed across his face without his permission at his Kwami’s gentle poking words. He lifted his chin to hide the expression of joy from Plagg so as not to be vulnerable in front of him. It felt wrong to let himself be seen being genuinely affected by someone wanting to show him affection. He didn’t know if Plagg would make fun of him for it, but he wasn’t about to find out either.

Flicking off the light by the door as he left, Chris closed the door on his white-walled bedroom and all of its bleak luxuries, abandoning his backpack since he didn’t need it to carry Plagg. He opened his mouth to call a goodbye, but he realized no one was there to hear it. His mother was asleep early in her bedroom upstairs, and Nino always spent what little free time he had at his fiancee’s house rather than at home. The boy’s lips fell shut again, and he grumped out the door of the silent apartment and right into someone who was standing just on the other side of it, about to knock.

“Dude, personal space!” Chris shouted, backing up and straightening out his clothes before he looked up to see who had been standing outside his apartment like a creep. The man’s hand was still poised to knock as he stood there surprised. “M. Agreste?”

“Hey, Chris! I just wanted to… wow… I don’t know. Huh. I thought I would have come up with an excuse to be here by now.”

“Nino’s not here…” Chris ventured, extremely confused why his teacher was standing in his building’s hallway. 

“Actually,” the blond man rubbed at the back of his neck. “I came to see you! Er, uh… can I come in?”

“Uh...no... I’m going to meet someone. Sorry, Agreste.” Chris looked his teacher up and down as he tried to keep his tone from being overly rude. He took a step forward, but M. Agreste acted quickly and stepped in front of Chris, cutting him off.

“Chat Noir?” He asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity.

“What? Who?” Chris panicked. “No! Why would I? What?” _Chill, dude, you sound nervous._

“Did you get that package today?” M. Agreste ignored his student’s sputtering.

“What, the snowglobe thing?” Chris asked, remembering. He had indeed been buzzed for a package that morning. When he got it, there was no return address, but he spotted the same symbol stamped on it that adorned the box he had received his Miraculous in, which now lived stashed under his mattress. Inside the parcel, he found another note from the former Chat Noir and a heavy snowglobe, which confused him. The note read:

_Sorry this toy is for babies, I just thought you’d like an early Christmas present this year. Meet tonight._

_-C.N._

M. Agreste didn’t respond, and Chris cocked his head to the side, sizing the man up. The retired model wore a black turtleneck, and it gave the red-headed boy pause briefly. When Chris was Akumatized as a child, his Akuma was inside of a very similar snowglobe to the one he had received in the package. No one saw him Akumatized besides Ladybug, Santa Claus, and… He tried to picture his teacher with cat ears, and burst out laughing before he could even get very far with the thought.

“What, are you saying _you’re_ Chat Noir?” Chris laughed, nearly breathless, and M. Agreste grew flustered.

“God, this isn’t going like I thought it would. Mari had such a better plan for hers. I thought I could wing it! So stupid.” He fisted a hand in his golden hair, groaning as he muttered to himself.

“What are you talking about, Teach?” Chris questioned as he regained his composure with a deep breath. “You’re freaking me out. I gotta go…” He tried to dodge around M. Agreste.

“Plagg, come out and vouch for me, for crying out loud!” M. Agreste demanded.

“How the--” Chris was interrupted as Plagg eagerly obeyed his previous master.

“Adrien, how nice to see you again! What has it been, a week? You’ve aged.” The little cat looked down his nose at the tall man. Chris was beside himself, coming to terms with the awkward reveal he had just been forced to witness.

“I--you--how do--get in here!” Forcefully, he grabbed his teacher’s arm and yanked him inside the apartment and away from the prying ears of his wealthy, nosy neighbors. Slamming the door shut, he cringed at the sound and hoped he hadn’t woken his mom up. It would be hard to explain why Chris’ teacher was here at 10 p.m. on a Saturday.

“Surprise?” Adrien grinned, but his eyes were wary. “I decided to come to you this time, instead of having you go out to the warehouse.”

“SURPRISE?!” Chris boomed, “WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

_________________________________________________________________

“Being knocked up doesn’t mean you can’t fight villains, though, right?” Chris asked, confused, nearly an hour after he had obliged his homeroom teacher and let him into his apartment. The pair sat in the large parlor, each in their own armchair several feet apart. Adrien held a small mug of black tea while Plagg napped atop his head, nestled in his golden locks, purring like a freight train.

“Yeesh, don’t put it like that,” Adrien cringed at his student/prodigee’s choice of words. “We could have kept going, but the fact that the new Hawkmoth took the Miraculous right after Marinette had checked on the Kwamis made us afraid that he knows one or both of our identities.”

“Well, then it’s your old man. Duh.” Chris rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair.

“I mean, we definitely thought of that. We grilled him _and_ Nathalie for alibis, but both of them were clear. My father had been seen at a flower shop at the same time, and Nathalie’s apartment building doorman vouched that she hadn’t left her place for the day yet. We even asked Majestia, since she and her kids know our identities too, but she had nothing for us. We’re stuck, and I’m sorry that it’s falling on you and Ladybeetle now to help us get out of this mess.”

“So, you passed the ring on because you figured the thief would come for you guys next?” Chris hypothesized.

“Basically. We still don’t think we’re safe, but the Miracle Box has been moved to Tibet for now, where the Guardians can watch it full time and avoid whatever slipup we must have made. I’ve got the Horse Miraculous on me at all times in case they figure something out.”

“Don’t you live in that huge, swank-ass mansion? Where’s the CCTV footage, bro?”

“The thief never faced any of the multiple cameras in the room, and they were wearing a cloak. We can’t tell if it’s a man or a woman, how old they are, anything. We didn’t even catch how they got in, so we’ve had to beef up our security system to include entrances we didn’t consider before.” Adrien looked disappointed in himself. 

“Heavy, bro,” was all Chris could manage. “Hey, if you’re more powerful as adults, why’d you pick two teenagers?”

“Having no time limit is helpful, but, truly, the Miraculous are more of a spiritual thing than an age thing. Marinette explains it better, but young people have fewer hang-ups. They can still be molded and shaped by their experiences more easily than an adult would be. Pairing a Miraculous with a young user allows the holder to grow with their powers. Plus, there’s the small matter of the Ladybug and Black Cat holders needing to be basically perfectly matched, and the two people we knew of who met that description were both teenagers.”

Chris sputtered, all the air suddenly leaving his lungs. “The hell does ‘perfectly matched’ mean?!”

“No, no, nothing like that. You just have to find two people who balance each other out just right. People who can work in sync with each other naturally, while also being able to succeed in the place of the other’s failures. Our old master chose Marinette and I because he could sense those qualities in us. She and I actually made our picks independently, then came together to see if they were a good fit, and, as fate would have it, you two were just right.”

“So we’re not, like, soulmates or whatever?” Chris asked, avoiding eye contact and feeling ashamed of the childish question.

“I suppose you could be, but I’m sure not the one to ask. I also don’t know who is. Regardless, your relationship with your partner is yours to define. You can be friends, coworkers, more than that, whatever you feel like. You just have to make sure that that relationship fits well within the constraints of your duty.”

Chris stared at the fireplace across the room. “Ladybeetle is a cool girl. I really like her,” he admitted.

“Yeah?” Adrien perked up, smiling mischievously.

“Yeah, whatever, but you know it’s not like that. I don’t wanna date her.”

“That’s fine,” Adrien assured. “I’m not a matchmaker, just a former superhero. The only woman I’ve ever loved is now my wife, so I really don’t know much about dating. I just had a feeling that having her in your life would benefit you. Do you think that’s true?”

Chris thought a moment, then nodded and shrugged noncommittally. “I guess…”

“Great. That’s all I can hope for. You know, I’m not an idiot. I hear about everything you and your friends do to your classmates. I’ve been waiting around for you to do better because I had faith in you, but you need to start thinking about whether they’re really your friends.”

Chris grew defensive. “Why’d you have faith in _me_ , then? I never told you to do that.”

“I remember how you were when you were little. Even in primary, you were kind of a little shit, but you were clearly compensating for a lack of confidence in yourself.” Chris’ mouth dropped open at his teacher’s bold words.

“You don’t know me, old man. You just hung around my brother a lot.”

“Well, if I really didn’t know you, and I only saw you based on the way you act in school, do you think I would’ve chosen you to be a hero?” Adrien asked. The question hung like lead in the air for a few beats, Chris swallowing hard as it sank in. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’ll tell you this now: you can’t go through life the way you currently are. I mean, you can, and plenty of people do, but you won’t actually be happy unless you learn to care about things and become your own man.”

“I don’t…” Chris muttered, not able to find an end to the sentence.

“Nino is worried about you, and I am too. I’ve been keeping a lot of the stuff you get in trouble for from him as a favor to you, but it would sure help me out if you got in trouble less. I know you aren’t happy like this. Think about it, okay?”

Chris stayed stubbornly silent, his lips almost pouting as he stared into the fireplace.

“I’m sorry to be so hard on you, Chris. I know this probably feels pretty weird, coming from your teacher and your brother’s best friend. I just hope you’ll understand someday.”

Chris said nothing, so Adrien opted to let the silence hang, interrupted intermittently by Plagg’s tiny snores.

“Did you only pick me because you think I’m some charity case?” Chris finally spat, the words tasting sour on his tongue.

“No. Just like Marinette with Ladybeetle, I see the right qualities in you. You have a hero’s heart and instincts, you just fight them off to go with the flow normally. You feel like you’re in a cage, restricted from doing the things you want to do. I know what it’s like to feel locked up, and Chat Noir was my freedom. I was hoping it could be some freedom for you, too.” Adrien twisted up one corner of his lips, raising his eyebrows and shrugging.

“Why would you give away your freedom?” Chris wondered, still wounded.

“Marinette is my freedom, now.” Adrien stated without hesitation. “She encouraged me to find what I wanted to be, completely unrestricted, after my father went away, and that led to me quitting modeling and becoming a teacher. Anytime something threatens my freedom, she fights it off barehanded.” He chuckled at the ferocity his tiny wife frequently exhibited.

“I don’t know what to do.” Chris broke through his pensive expression to change the subject back to what was nagging at his thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Adrien asked.

“I don’t… like… I don’t understand what you want from me. I know my friends are all fake, but if I tell them off, I’ll have nobody.”

“Maybe,” Adrien simply replied, and Chris was taken aback. “Maybe you will have nobody, or maybe they’ll listen to you and shape up.” Chris scoffed at that, knowing it was highly unlikely. Adrien continued, “Maybe losing them could be good, and you can spend some time with yourself, just feeling it out. Maybe you could make different friends, better friends.”

“Yeah, right,” Chris muttered in disbelief. “Like anybody who’s ever met me would want to be friends with me if it weren’t for Nino’s DJ gig.”

Adrien shrugged, smiling at the boy who seemed so hopeless. “You’ll never know until you try.”

“Then why would I risk it?”

“Sometimes, you just have to be brave,” Adrien said.

______________________________________________________________________

On Monday morning, Chris awoke with a loud groan, twisting around uncomfortably in his bed. The mattress was too firm, the bed was too large, and the room was too hot. Chris never really imagined that he’d miss his family’s old apartment someday, for all of its leaks, mice, creaky doors, broken appliances, drafts, and stains. He was discovering slowly that the memories in that old, nasty place had made it a home to him, while this new, blank slate contained none of his past joys.

“I’m so glad you have this mini-fridge in here now,” Plagg chimed, grabbing the boy’s attention as he gleefully pulled a piece of cheese from the appliance.

Chris looked and saw the contents of his personal mini-fridge thrown on the floor by the door, then wheeled back to see that Plagg had filled the entire fridge with camembert that Adrien had left for him the other day. While Chris was thankful that Plagg at least had the right cheese now and would hopefully stop trying to make his life hell about it, he was of course still miffed about the loss of his fridge. “You stinky little monster,” he muttered, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. Plagg stuck out his tongue in between bites of the soft cheese.

Chris made his way to school on his skateboard the same as he always had, but his mentor’s advices kept entering his mind unbidden. All day on Sunday, the same thing had occurred, with the boy trying his best to sift through his own thoughts and Adrien’s words with no tools at his disposal. How was he supposed to just stand up to his friends? They only hung out with him because of Nino, anyway. It’s not like they’d just start being nice and actually having hobbies just because some _nouveau riche_ doofus told them they suck. 

He’d been picking on kids since pre-k, back then because he liked the attention he could get from doing it, and now because he was powerless to go against his cohorts. As a child, Chris’ mother worked such odd hours that he rarely saw her as she struggled to manage single-motherhood and spending quality time with her children. Getting reactions from other kids, especially girls, and even getting chewed out by teachers was satisfying to him in a way he didn’t understand, and it lent itself easily to being friends with other bullies.

Lost in thoughts he normally chased away, Chris accidentally hit a crack in the sidewalk and found himself stumbling off of his board face-first into the pavement directly across from Francois Dupont High School. He managed to catch himself on his hands at the last second, but his headphones flew off, hitting the sidewalk and bouncing once.

“Shit!” he murmured under his breath, crawling forward on his scuffed hands to grab the headphones. Inspecting them, he found a crack running along the side of one of the cans and groaned. He was sure Nino could easily replace them, but he was still attached to the expensive headphones. With a sour frown, he hung the busted accessory around his neck and dusted off his skinny jeans, crossing the street with board in hand.

He approached his posse, who formed a haphazard clump as some sat on the cement staircase railings and others stood below them, shooting the breeze. Quentin was the only one to offer slight acknowledgement to Chris as he arrived, tipping his head upward in a single nod with a straight face as a noncommital greeting.

“Nice spill, loser. First day on the board?” Leo, the tallest of the boys, mocked Chris, whose face instantly flushed.

“Sidewalk crack came outta nowhere, man,” Chris shrugged, avoiding eye contact as the boys jeered.

“Whatever.” Leo turned back to Quentin, nudging him with an elbow. “Look, Thom is talking to Genna. What a joke!”

Quentin cackled briefly before piping up toward their two classmates nearby, addressing Thom, “Hey, Tiny, you gonna eat her for lunch?”

Chris cringed at their words as Thom’s posture stiffened, realizing he was their target, but refusing to turn and acknowledge them. Genna grabbed his shoulder quickly.

“Ugh, just ignore them. What were you saying?” she asked, looking up into Thom’s eyes.

“Er, uh… I was just gonna… did you finish the English paper yet?” Thom abandoned the subject he had approached Genna to discuss, his confidence shot after the boys’ comments on his weight.

“The English paper?” Genna blinked. “Not yet, I guess. Still got a few more days, and you know how I love to procrastinate!”

“Hey, Lard, I was talkin’ to you!” Quentin continued, not taking being ignored. He turned to Jean beside him, raising an eyebrow. “Come on.” The two approached Thom, grinning as the poor boy deflated and cringed away from them. Thom stepped in front of Genna a bit, attempting to hide her from their tirade.

“What do you want, Quentin?” Thom asked with a roll of his eyes. Jean reacted instantly to Thom’s attitude, shoving Thom by the chest with both hands and causing the portly boy to stumble backward a step, tripping into Genna slightly. The pair righted themselves quickly.

“Watch the tone, Thom Yum. You’re being rude,” Jean wore a self-satisfied smirk at Thom’s scared expression.

“Thom Yum, very funny. I get it, I’m heavy. Can you just leave us alone now?” Thom tried not to sound too pathetic in front of Genna, but Genna was growing more fed up by the second. She pushed past him, stepping in front of him and facing the two bullies.

“Don’t you guys have anything better to do? Honestly, you think we’re the losers, but all you guys do is bother everyone else!” Genna shouted, pointing a finger aggressively in their faces.

Unfazed, Quentin leaned out from behind Genna to eye Thom. “Dude, you’re having a girl try to tell me off? You’re a more pathetic loser than I thought.” He snickered.

Thom and Genna both attempted to reply through their anger and embarrassment. Chris battled himself internally as he stood shuffling awkwardly beside Leo, who was absent-mindedly scrolling through his phone like he didn’t care at all. Adrien’s advice sounded ridiculous to Chris right now. What power did Chris have to make Jean and Quentin lay off?

“He said to leave him alone!” All six teens, save for Leo, wheeled around at the sound of the new voice to see Manon now standing behind them, seething. Jean and Quentin laughed while Chris observed.

“What are you gonna do about it?” Quentin glowered down at Manon as he towered over her with his arms crossed. Manon realized she once again didn’t have a plan, but she refused to back down. She marched forward, huffing as she stood between the boys and Thom. She didn’t answer.

“Move along, Margot.” Jean made a shooing motion with one hand, disregarding her. Manon crossed her arms right back, not moving.

“Have it your way,” Jean shrugged. Suddenly, he lurched, grabbing Manon by both shoulders and jerking her out of the way forcefully. Manon wailed as she tumbled away, unable to catch herself from falling down as she heard shouts begin around her. 

All at once, her movement ceased, and Manon felt as though she had smacked into a warm, soft wall behind her. A voice above her spoke. 

“Guys, what the hell?! Drop it!” Chris Lahiffe shouted at his so-called friends, unsure where the courage was coming from. Manon slowly looked up to note that Chris had in fact caught her just as she was about to land on her butt in the grass. He held her with each arm locked under her armpits, her back against his torso. Instantly, her blood boiled.

“Ew, get off me, you asshole!” Manon shrieked, forcing herself from his grip, bothered immensely by how good he smelled. She was briefly mentally repulsed with herself for that thought as she stood and hopped backwards away from her enemy. “What’s your problem?”

“ _My_ problem?! I just caught you!” Chris let out a massive groan before looking back over to see what was now going on with the altercation. He saw Quentin holding Thom in a headlock, the heavyset teen struggling to escape his hold mostly from the embarrassment of it. Quentin barked a laugh as Genna tried to grab onto his arm and pull it off of Thom. Chris spoke up again, barreling forward past Jean and grabbing onto Quentin as well, successfully wrenching his arm from around Thom’s neck.

“This is too far, dude,” Chris spoke, his voice shaking slightly. Fire lit up in Quentin’s eyes.

“What, because I tossed your little girlfriend?” Chris and Manon instantly froze.

“If you think I’d even _look_ at any of you, you’re the biggest idiot at this school!” Manon spat, disgusted.

“Dude, come on…” Chris pleaded with Quentin as Jean stepped in.

“Ouch, that’s gotta hurt, bro, right? You’ve only had a crush on her since, like, first grade! What are you gonna do now?” Jean’s words took on a sickening taunting tone as they silenced the entire surrounding area. All eyes that weren’t already watching fell on the group. Chris’ face ran red until it matched his combed-back hair as he dared to flick his eyes toManon behind him. She stood with a firm stance, her eyes nearly bulging out of her head.

 _Compassion for your enemies,_ Manon heard Marinette’s advice in her head. She felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t know what to do. “Yeah, right,” was all she could muster.

“No, seriously, you should hear the kid! Just last week we were saying you might be too loud and annoying to bang, but he tried to _defend_ you. We called him out and he was red as a beet, denying! I don’t believe him for a second.” Quentin stepped back, wearing his shit-eating grin. Chris was vaguely slack-jawed, effectively silenced as pure humiliation washed over him. The bullies appeared pleased that they had suppressed Chris’ attempted uprising.

“I don’t… if you _ever_! Shut UP!” Manon felt the shame of Quentin’s hateful comments, mocking her for being her excitable, boisterous self and degrading her. Ocean waves roared in her ears, louder than her thoughts could shout over.

“Méchant, Taureau, Mme. Mendeliev’s office, now.” M. Agreste boomed from the sidewalk nearby as he approached, addressing the two culprits by their last names and directing them to the principal. Quentin and Jean snapped to attention, stepping away from Genna and Thom with their hands at their sides.

“We weren’t doing anything, Agreste!” Quentin piped up.

“It was him!” Jean pointed to Quentin, who guffawed and slugged him on the shoulder.

M. Agreste just stared at them, daring them to tell more lies. After a beat, he added, “You’ll be lucky if she just suspends you. Move it, or I’ll have D’Argencourt also bench the both of you from Lacrosse for the rest of the year.”

Jean and Quentin faltered, unable to respond. Eventually, they both fell in step and marched up the stairs and into the school as they were told, with M. Agreste tailing close behind. The teacher cast an unreadable glace to Chris as they passed him, and Chris didn’t respond.

Manon stumbled back a step, finally pushing past the ringing in her ears. A hand gripped her jacket sleeve, and she whipped around ready to strike at whoever it was before she registered that it was Remy standing behind her with a sympathetic expression. He jerked his head toward the school’s front door, and Manon exhaled heavily before she walked with her newly-arrived best friend away from the situation. They headed to their classroom, knowing it would be a bit before their teacher actually arrived to start class now that he was escorting the goons, hopefully, to their reckoning. 

Manon smacked down into her seat, almost slamming her bag into the ground in her rage before she remembered Tikki was inside of it. As she set the bag on the floor, she peeked into the pocket to see the little Kwami’s huge eyes full of sympathy staring up at her. The brunette set her mouth in a line and sat up. Remy slid into his chair in front of her before turning around and placing his chin on his hands on her desk.

“You okay?” He eyed her up and down as other students began filing into the room, all rather quiet. Manon shrugged one shoulder, unresponsive. “I’m sorry, Manon. I wish I would’ve gotten up earlier today! What did they say to you? You looked so pissed when I got there.”

Well, they certainly had said multiple things that upset Manon, but she preferred not to think about it right then, so she opted for her other choice. “Jean shoved me.” 

“What?! He laid a hand on you?! That’s messed up!” Remy stood up from his chair, startling other students with his sudden rise in volume. 

“I tried to stand up to him, so he just tossed me out of the way like I was nothing. I _hate_ those guys!” Tears of rage misted Manon’s eyes. She thought back to Marinette once more, telling the girl that hate was a waste of her energy and happiness. It sounded so ridiculous to her then, and it only made her feel more anger.

Just then, Elise shuffled in on her crutch, trying a smile at her best friends, unaware anything had happened that morning. Manon recalled how the girl was Akumatized just a few days prior, and worked immediately to repress her rampant emotions to avoid attracting Hawkmoth’s attention herself. One massive steadying breath out through the mouth, a pause, a long inhale through the nose, a pause. She counted to ten, and she felt herself calm down. Jean and Quentin were being laid into by Principal Mendeliev right then, and she was no pushover. That would provide solace to Manon enough for now.

Elise hopped to her seat beside Manon, and Manon prepared to launch into the tale of her ridiculous morning so far. She was rather distracted, however, as Chris slipped into the room, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with everyone who turned to stare at him as he moved to his chair. As he walked past Manon’s seat, something overtook her, and she suddenly grabbed the sleeve of his windbreaker with much force, halting the confused boy.

With fear pouring off of his face, he looked down at her as she tried to push herself to speak the words she didn’t want to say. “Th…” she took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut. “Thanks for catching me, I guess.”

Chris cocked his head, not having expected anything like that from her. “Uh, yeah.” He muttered as his cheeks heated. He jerked his arm slightly to free his sleeve from her grasp and headed for his desk, praying that he could just sit down and be left alone for a second to forget everything that had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is too much of a dork these days to be able to pull off a cool reveal like Marinette. Also, God, high schoolers are the worst.
> 
> Next time: Krispy figures out how to get from here to the ending she planned. I... oops. I ran out of pre-written content again and I don't exactly have a ton of spare time to write right now. Bear with me for a brief hiatus until I connect all of my threads. Thanks!


End file.
